Heineken Cup Final 2011 - Leinster blow the Saints away in the best comeback since Lazarus.

Picture from http://bit.ly/lEf5b9

Adjective Alert – for the week and the weekend that was in it, don’t be surprised to see the odd superlative crop up – fantastic, fabulous, outstanding etc etc. Unbelievable is probably the most apt to describe this Heineken Cup final. At half time I was whistling for the dogs and looking for their leads, muttering under my breath and getting ready for a week long sulk. Leinster were unbelievably dire in the first half, their scrum was a shambles, and the rest of their play was a collection of foul-ups, bleeps and blunders. My blood pressure was rising faster than the Saints’ scoreline. And of course, if I had given up and taken the dogs for a walk, I would have missed one of the great rugby comebacks of all time, because dire as they were in the first half, Leinster were unbelievably brilliant in the second half.


Northampton played the first half very astutely – gaining dominance in the scrum, kicking for field position, sucking up defenders and then getting the ball wide to their danger men. I don’t think even they could believe how they were dominating Leinster, and everything went their way – the ball rolled well for them, and they managed to outscore Leinster 7-3 during Mujati’s sinbinning. They finished the half 22-6 up, and the match was all but one. Tonga'uiha, Hartley and Mujati had propelled the team into touching distance of the cup.

Then it was half time, with Leinster dragging their sorry arses to the dressing room, while the Saints walked on air to get there. What exactly happened at half time in the Leinster changing room will forever be subject to conjecture. Greg Feek their former All Black front row coach, obviously sat the Healy, Strauss and Ross and gave them the wisdom of the ages to know how to cope with Saints’ 1,2 and 3. Joel Schmidt made a few long overdue introductions – ‘Brian, this is Gordan, Jonny, this is Eoin’, gave some really insightful advice ( When you run, carry the ball in TWO hands), and they session ended with a group hug and a rousing version of the Glee version of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Belivin’. In all seriousness, it sounds like Jonny Sexton gave the most amazing motivational speech that in my opinion marks him out as future Leinster and Ireland captain.

Sexton was also at the heart of the Leinster explosion that blew the Saints away in the second half. He scored two tries, kicked the conversions, kicked the penalties – there weren’t any limit to his talents. Leinster imposed their game on Northampton, and the Saint’s couldn’t live with it, couldn’t find the answers to the relentless waves of attacks. Shane Jennings was a revelation and an inspired substitution, and Sean O’Brien, Heaslip, Strauss, Shaggy and Nacewa all stood up to be counted. But for me, the whole foundation for the victory was laid in the front row, lads who don’t often get a mention in this blog (except in the same sentence as ‘pie shop’. ) Healy, Strauss and Ross, take a bow, you did you did your province proud. The whole team did.

It must be absolutely gut wrenching for the Saints, in line for a double, then to have it all snatched away from you. Ben Fodden was outstanding, as was Lawes, and they have a host of young players that as the years go by are going to get them back into the Heineken Cup Final and get themselves into the England team – players like Clarke, Dickson and Dowson.

The whole thing was a humbling experience, going from the depths of despair of despair to the elation of victory. Leinster’s victory means that Connacht get to play Heineken Cup Rugby next year, which is a fabulous result for them. And with the Queen playing a blinder in Ireland, it’s been quite a week for the country. I’m still pinching myself, unbelievable is without doubt the best description of this match.

Two Heineken Cups in three seasons, it doesn’t get better much than that.

In the Amlin Challenge Cup, Harlequins picked Stade’s pocket in the last few minutes of the match to score a try and win. I thought this was going to be more entertaining than the Heineken Cup, but both teams had a safety first approach, and in the end when Quins had no option but to throw caution to thewind and go for it, their bravery was rewarded with a try. Is this the start of the Quins’ climb back to the top? Danny Care was the dandy highwayman who provided the spark to see them home. Stade should have won that match for all money, but fair play to Quins.

Shark Bite

The Sharks were absolute pants in their loss to the Bulls, from my Twitter view of the match. ‘Alberts drops the ball AGAIN’ was the most frequently tweeted comment. If you can’t beat a so so Bulls team you aren’t going to get very far are you?