Toulouse torment may only strengthen Leinster resolve

Sport retains the capacity to cut even the best of players and teams down to size, writes Donal Lenihan

Nine days after delivering one of the most rounded and clinical performances the revamped Champions Cup has seen, a reminder for Leinster yesterday that they, just like New Zealand, are beatable after all.

A sign of the times in the changing fortunes of these two European giants that Toulouse started this game with a quota of relative unknowns compared to the 13 Irish internationals, the Wallaby and Maori All Black which made up Leinster’s starting team.