‘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.

They have alighted upon Leinster’s less-than-stellar performances of late in both competitions, their good fortune in squeezing past Clermont Auvergne, their injury problems and the difficulty of succeeding at Le Stadium.

“I certainly sense it that people wouldn’t give us much of a chance,” says Leo Cullen. “It is not a new sensation for some of us. We went into the semi-final last year and people wouldn’t have given us much of a chance. The way you get asked questions you can sense the way people feel about things.

“It makes you a bit more determined about things. As a team, we are well capable of travelling away. Of course it is going to be tough, but that is the challenge you look forward to. That’s what makes playing the game exciting, I guess. It is always a nice feeling when you get written off and we certainly feel that we have a point to prove still.”

It is clearly something that rankles – that they are somehow not afforded their full due even though they are reigning champions, two games away from back-to-back titles and still well-positioned for a second Magners League title in three years.

John Fogarty betrayed a touch of frustration earlier in the week when he suggested that there was too much emphasis being placed on Toulouse who Leinster beat in a never-to-be-forgotten try-fest in Toulouse four years ago.

To this day, it is the one and only time that the red and black colours have been lowered in Europe in the 37,000-capacity football ground that plays host again today, and it is similarly unique in that it is their sole Heineken knockout defeat in their home town.

Munster did claim a famous semi-final win against them in 2000 but that was 150 miles up the road in Bordeaux’s Chaban Delmas, although Brive did manage a 22-22 at Le Stadium Municipal before advancing to the final on a superior 2-1 try count.

No wonder then that Cheika has described this intriguing semi-final as the biggest test that Leinster have faced in his five seasons in charge. Cullen, who has seen and done pretty much everything with Leinster now, is in full agreement.

The one time the Ireland lock played in Toulouse could hardly have been a more dispiriting affair – a 33-6 pool stage defeat with Leinster in 2008 on a day when they reached the shelter of half-time at six points apiece.

“Once you allow them into their stride that’s what can happen. It’s similar to what happened in their quarter-final. Stade matched them physically in the first-half and tired in the second-half and Toulouse looked more and more dangerous.

“That is what I have experienced before, that’s the fear when you play against them. That is what they are capable of doing. No matter what team they play against, they are capable of doing it.”

For all the talk about Toulouse, for all their heritage and success, the reality is that they haven’t won the Heineken Cup for five years and this season, for the most part, has been one of disappointment and a struggle for momentum.

Facing them is a Leinster side that is unlikely to show them too much respect, one in which every second player is in his 30s and unlikely to be daunted by the occasion and in which the other members are hardly babes in the woods.

“The team wants to be successful for the team. As we said last year, there’s quite a lot of experienced players in the squad and experience can also mean guys are getting on a bit. They realise they might not have many of these days.”

He might have played near enough to 200 games for Leinster and Leicester but only three of those have been semi-finals.

“They are great occasions and the players want to be successful just because a lot of us know there isn’t that much time. It’s important to make the most of it when you get into these positions.”