Not far off the perfect day

AFTER so pulsating a spectacle as this Heineken Cup semi-final, it is difficult to imagine how the final in Cardiff in just under three weeks will come anywhere close to matching it.

Leinster, of course, will not care an iota if it means they regain the trophy two years on from their crowning glory at Murrayfield but one detects there is still more to come from Joe Schmidt’s side following Saturday’s thrilling encounter at the Aviva Stadium.

A contest of drama, excitement, breath-taking play and deafening noise, this was a clash of the two most recent European champions. And they delivered everything one could wish from a sporting showdown, slugging it out toe-to-toe like heavyweights trading punches like middleweights and dancing like featherweights in equal measures.