Antoine Dupont: When you concede 40 points there is nothing to add

UP FOR GRABS: Toulouse’s Antoine Dupont is tackled by Gary Ringrose of Leinster. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Toulouse made for Dublin Airport with more than a few regrets after Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final loss to Leinster but the Top 14 leaders had no gripe with the result and their status as second best on the day.

Leo Cullen’s side outscored them five tries to three. They led by 20 points at one stage late in the first-half, by 24 until the last act in the second and the visitors were complicit in their own problems with the concession of two yellow cards.

Full-back Thomas Ramos was guilty of the first after 16 minutes. Replacement hooker Rodrigue Neti followed suit near the hour mark. Leinster made hay in their absence with four converted tries amounting to a 28-point punishment for the indiscretions.

It was an equally convincing defeat to the one Leinster subjected them to at this same stage and at this same venue 12 months ago but this may have been more impressive given Toulouse were fresher, fitter and in better form this time.

“I felt a difference from last year even with a similar scoreline,” said star scrum-half Antoine Dupont. “We got a good start, scored a try and we were lacking some discipline, but after the first yellow we recovered well, we were physically fit and we broke their lines.

“We thought we could be dangerous and score. Last year was different but when you get two yellow cards, when you give away some points, it is very difficult to argue. You can’t talk about the referee or the strategy when you concede 40 points, There is nothing to add.” 

His boss Ugo Mola was a tad more circumspect in discussing the ebbs and flows of their fortunes but ultimately fell under the same bracket in conceding that Leinster were fully merited their win and a shot at equalling their tally of five titles.

There was, too, some wistfulness that referee Wayne Barnes hadn’t opted to review a potentially illegal tackle by Andrew Porter in the run-up to Emmanuel Meafou’s 35th-minute try that brought his team back to within 13 points.

“We could have played 15 players against 14 but the error was not mentioned,” said Mola. “Wayne Barnes is a high level referee but in that time there was the weight of a potential try and this mistake, this foul, was not whistled.

“We could have been in the position to get back to 13 points in the first half and it could have been a watershed. Lots of facts didn’t work in our favour and we paid dearly for it and we have to be more lucid against this type of team.” 

Mola expressed his regret at their failure to make more of maybe half-a-dozen attacking opportunities that came to naught and touched on an element of fatalism in mentioning how their destiny had again tasked them with a knockout game against Leinster in Dublin.

But there were no second thoughts about his decision to re-order his backline when replacing the injured Pierre-Louis Barassi with Paul Graou rather than Artur Retiere. ”When you lose you are an idiot,” he said.

All of which is moot now. A sixth European title is beyond them but not another Top 14 crown. One point clear of La Rochelle at the summit, they face fourth-placed Bordeaux-Begles at home next Sunday in the third-last of their regular season games.

“This season is not over yet,” said Mola. “Of course we are disappointed. We will prepare in order to be in the top two in the Top 14 so this is what we will be doing and we will be up for the task. We are in the top spot for the last 23 matches and we will digest this event and take 48 hours and then prepare again.”