Leinster 40 Toulouse 17
As the ever-sprightly Hugo Keenan slalomed through heavy-legged Toulouse players in the game’s final act, the thought occurred that Leinster’s biggest semi-final win, and the largest the tournament has witnessed in eight years, perhaps gave a slightly flattering glow to the final scoreline. But on reflection, not really.
Aside from one turnover try and another off a catch-and-drive, Toulouse hardly threatened. Apart from the scrum, following Tadhg Furlong’s disconcerting departure after a sublime 17 minutes featuring a 20-metre plus skip pass, the dethroned champions were pretty much beaten in every department.
By contrast, Caelan Doris fired his pass to the supporting Keenan at the fullback’s head after his break from Furlong’s tip-on, Robbie Henshaw prematurely joined a maul that would have ended the contest by half-time and Jamison Gibson-Park’s attempted floater to an unmarked …
- May 16, 2022
