A sixth star, in the sky barely veiled by clouds above London, it shines. A lot, even. The people of Toulouse won it, at the end of their breath, at the end of cramps, at the end of themselves. In overtime because we had to go through it, this Saturday afternoon on the lawn of Tottenham, northern district of the English capital. As in 1996 against Cardiff, as in 2005 against Stade Français, the only two Champions Cup finals until then played beyond 80 minutes, the Haute-Garonne club was crowned king of Europe against Leinster (22 -31).
Not a formality, but a specialty. The 9th success in the final in 9 appearances since 2008 (3 in the Champions Cup, 6 in the Top 14)… The loser of the day remains stuck with four trophies and above all has just suffered a third setback at this stage after the two failures in 2022 and 2023 in front of La Rochelle. Antoine Dupont does not have these figures in mind, he cries on the pitch, falls into the arms of his teammates. The Toulouse captain is elected man of the match. As so often.
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She is there the 6th star βοΈ
At the end of the suspense, the Toulouse residents won 31-22 against the Irish from Leinster and returned to the roof of Europe π#LEINST pic.twitter.com/0aIzRqsuepβ francetvsport (@francetvsport) May 25, 2024
More lively in their blood-red jersey, more skillful, more precise, the Toulouse team quickly took control of this final in a cocoon largely won over to the Irish cause. Only a piece of stud from Antoine Dupont scraping the touchline in an acrobatic gesture after a follow-up kick from his winger Mallia prevented the Toulouse try in the 2nd minute.
The domination did not remain sterile, however. Blair Kinghorn, impeccable in his role as scorer (only one failure from 50 meters in the corner in the 1st period), very quickly opened the scoring (0-3, 5th then 0-6, 8th) taking advantage of opposing mistakes. This is also the big surprise of this start of the meeting. Despite its ability to win balls and distribute them, Leinster appears awkward. Penalized in defense, clumsy in attack where they stupidly lost a profusion of ammunition, the Irish failed to destabilize Ugo Mola’s players.
Heroic Defense
They persist in betting on penalties and invariably return the balls after approximations that are not like them. Opposite, Toulouse is in control. Antoine Dupont shows off all his class. Itβs the right place and time. The captain of the French champions causes a shiver down the spines of Irish supporters by blocking a clearance from James Lowe (28th) in his in-goal. Then he saves a try three meters from his goal line, thanks to his scratch, on a 60 m counter-attack from hooker Dan Sheehan (30th). He then scored a 50-22 (33rd) which could have had a better outcome.
The only problem is that Toulouse does not take enough advantage of its opportunities and returns to the locker room with only a 3-point lead (6-9). Opener Ross Byrne ends up trying to score and ties the two teams (47th, 9-9). It’s the turn of the Toulouse residents to appear unrecognizable. A slump. Serious. Romain Ntamack and his teammates endure without being able to react. Leinster adjusted its sights with the reinforcement of its 3rd line Josh Van der Flier, who entered at the very start of the second half. It’s then safe who can on the Toulouse side. And it works quite well despite the closed melee which is taking on water.
Toulouse’s excellent defense kept Romain Ntamack’s teammates afloat. ActionPlus/Icon Sport
The defense is heroic. The last defense is in place. And the gushing seems liberating. A ball lost by Leinster, a tumble from the Toulouse three-quarters, we turn the game around, once, twice and at the end, we score. Except that, this time again, the foot of Matthis Lebel, who dove for the try, was finally judged on the touchline (69th). Another scratch from Dupont four meters from his line (74th) while Toulouse regained the advantage on a penalty from Ramos three minutes earlier. The end of the match is unbearable. Substitute full-back Ciaran Frawley equalizes on a penalty (78th) then misses the drop (80th). Extension.
The red that could have changed everything
Time, finally, for the Toulouse Stadium. Dupont accelerates the game. Lowe comes out on a yellow card for a voluntary kick-in. Penalty missed by Ramos but the movement that follows is the right one. Matthis Lebel does not set foot in touch this time. His sprint ends in the goal (83rd). The test is transformed. The Irish are KO and concede again (89th, 15-25).
A bad move from Arnold, a clearing of the shoulder against Healy’s head, a red card (90th), is everything restarted? Van der Flier pounds and collapses into the goal… The try is awarded after an interminable video referee. Transformed by Frawley (22-25). There are ten minutes left. An eternity. But Toulouse resists, even better, occupies the field and lets Ramos make the difference. Finally.
Dots
Leinster: 1 try from Van der Flier (90th), 1 conversion from Frawley (90th), 5 penalties from Byrne (19th, 40th, 47th, 66th), Frawley (78th)
Toulouse stadium: 1 try from Lebel (83rd), 1 conversion from Ramos (83rd), 8 penalties from Kinghorn (5th, 8th, 37th, 58th), Ramos (71st, 89th, 93rd, 96th)
