"Horrific feeling" - Leinster's Caelan Doris & Leo Cullen react to another failed shot at Champions Cup glory

Leinster’s tries from Tommy O’Brien, Caelan Doris, James Lowe and a Josh van der Flier brace weren’t enough as they failed to reach the final for the first time since 2021. A controversial late TMO decision decided matters in Dublin as Ross Byrne got a hand on the ball sitting unguarded on the goal line. Ultimately, referee Pierre Brousset and TMO Tual Trainini decided a knock-on in the build-up would break the home fans’ hearts and send Northampton to their first Champions Cup final in 14 years.

Saints, who had three players sent to the sin bin throughout the 80 minutes, clung on with 14 men at the end by turning a ruck over and reversing their three-point loss at Croke Park last year. The Premiership holders will face Bordeaux-Begles in the final on May 24th, at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Tries: T. O’Brien 18’, J. van der Flier (2) 26’, 59’, C. Doris 47’, J. Lowe 70’
Pens: S. Prendergast 14’
Cons: S. Prendergast (3) 27’, 48’, 71’

Tries: T. Freeman (3) 8’, 36’, 38’; H. Pollock 29’; J. Ramm 63’
Pens: F. Smith (2) 23’, 56’
Cons: F. Smith (3) 9’, 30’, 64’
Yellow Cards: C. Langdon 26, J. Kemeny 68’, A. Coles 80’

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Attendance: 42,207

Leinster have been the constant bridesmaids of the Champions Cup in the 2020s, losing three consecutive finals in Marseille, Dublin and London. Having fallen one hurdle shorter this year, Cullen was in a crestfallen mood in the post-match press conference.

LEO CULLEN: "The dressing room is a pretty sombre place, as you can imagine. You set off at the start of the season, the finals in Cardiff, everything is building towards that. Every team is imagining themselves there in the final, there's so much work that goes into a semi-final. When you lose, it's pretty horrific, and that's the feeling we're experiencing at the moment.

"You'd love to get another crack at it straight away, but unfortunately, you don't get that opportunity, and that's sport. Not many people gave Northampton a chance coming into the game, and they've come away with a famous victory. Unfortunately, that's at our expense."

The hosts had been made strong favourites coming into this match, having trounced Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors in the previous two rounds of this competition by a combined score of 114-0. With his side failing to repeat their victory over Northampton at the semi-final stage from last year, Cullen was at a loss as to why his side couldn't get the job done.

LEO CULLEN: "There's a strong feeling amongst our group that we haven't done ourselves justice fully. What's the reason for that? I don't know. That's the great mystery, isn't it?

"A couple of things weren't quite accurate. We had tons of opportunities that we didn't quite deliver, and that's when things can get a bit jittery. All that being said, we had the last four or five minutes of the match camped on their try line and couldn't get it done. That's the painful learning, unfortunately for us. We talk about the importance of home

"We can talk about it all bloody day, but it's dead and buried now. All we can do is turn our attention to the next challenge."

Having kept a clean sheet throughout the entire knockout stage thus far, Leinster were sucker-punched by the driving runs of England trio Fin Smith, Henry Pollock and Tommy Freeman. The Ireland captain, who's expected to take up a similar role for the British & Irish Lions this summer, gave a lot of credit to the Saints' pack as they ran in four first-half tries.

CAELAN DORIS: "Credit to them, they had a very good game plan which they executed very well. We were aware from what we've seen of them and from facing them last year, how dangerous they can be in attack, especially when they're unstructured off of kick battles. Guys like Tommy Freeman, who was very dangerous and converted quite a few today.

"Obviously there's some stuff we weren't good enough at, some of the basics in terms of our collision. We put a lot of work into the collision, into collision dominance. When that's not there at the centre of the [defence], it's hard to do much from that."

Having been made such heavy favourites, with some bookmakers offering a 20-point spread on a Leinster victory, thanks to their good form and Champions Cup pedigree, many considered the hosts' place in Cardiff to be a formality. When asked about whether his side took their eye off of this match, Cullen spoke at length about their psyche at the Aviva Stadium.

LEO CULLEN: "I think there's always an expectancy [to make the final], everyone's worked hard year on year to get the group better. I think we've assembled a good group of players through our pathway, so much work goes into that... because there's a strong desire to achieve in this tournament.

"Is there complacency? I don't think so, I think there's strong desire all the time. Unfortunately, in any game, there's two teams. Northampton came with a good plan, they executed incredibly well and they were very clinical. Because of the pressure and expectation, I don't think that's a complacency thing. I think there's a little bit of desperation to be successful, and maybe there's a lack of composure there.

"I don't quite buy that about complacency. There's a group of players and staff that are very desperate to be successful, which says a lot about how much we value this tournament."

The 32-cap former Ireland international has been in charge of Leinster for a decade now, leading them to five Champions Cup finals and winning one back in 2018. After another year without European silverware, Cullen assured journalists that he believes he's the right man for the job.

LEO CULLEN: "I think I am [the right man for the job], yeah. I think we've worked hard in terms of trying to improve the team year on year, and I think the group is very strong right now. That's not something that's created last week, it's over the years.

"We've lost three finals over the last three years, but I believe we have a stronger group now than we've had, and that's the way I will continue to approach the day-to-day in terms of preparing for the short, medium and long term. So yes, I'm very committed to the team."