Leinster ‘never dead’

TOULOUSE coach Guy Noves has heaped praise on Leinster ahead of Saturday’s Heineken Cup semi-final describing them as team that are “never dead”.

Noves has won European rugby’s showpiece tournament three times with the French giants and isn’t for a second underestimating Michael Cheika’s side.

Noves said: “They’re not champions of Europe for nothing. They possess huge experience at this level.

“As they did against Clermont, they’re a team capable of raising their game to blow away their opponent even in awkward moments when things are going against them.

“Even when you’re leading, they’re never dead.”

Noves admitted that although the memories of Leinster’s sensational 35-41 victory at the Stadium de Toulouse in 2006 still haunts him, that wouldn’t be a motivational tool this weekend.

He added: “They’re champions of Europe. We don’t need any extra motivation than that. We’ve won it ourselves three times and they’ve won it too so you know what type of performance you need at this point of the competition. We’ve been through a lot to get to this stage.

“From our point of view, we’ve been able to plan accordingly and reach this stage in the best possible way. Recently, we’ve been able to rotate the side a little to retain the maximum freshness. The group is motivated and we’ve got a good dynamic. It would be a shame to let this match pass us by. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”