‘It’s always nice to be written off’

DIFFERENT year, same old story. This time 12 months ago, Leinster spent the week prior to their historic Heineken Cup semi-final against Munster at Croke Park hands pressed tightly to their ears against the choruses of doom and gloom.

A year later and half of the characters have changed, the backdrop too, but the bones of the script remain unaltered. Popular opinion, for all that it was worth last time, would have it that this will be Toulouse’s day.

Those peddling that line have assembled as evidence everything from the French side’s rich tradition in Europe, their enormous operating budget, home advantage and the quarter-final defeat of Stade Francais.