Leinster vs Toulouse

john walsh welcome
PRESIDENT, LEINSTER RUGBY 2020/22
On behalf of Leinster Rugby, I
am delighted to extend a warm
Irish welcome to all rugby fans
throughout the rugby world who
are joining us today for what I hope
will be a classic encounter between
our visitors and reigning Heineken
Champions Cup winners, Toulouse,
and 2018 champions, Leinster.
Those of you of a certain age
and vintage will remember with
fondness back to 1977 when Star
Wars burst onto the big screen to
fire our imagination as to what
the future might hold for us.
There have been several sequels
to A New Hope and today’s
event at the Aviva Stadium (the
world’s oldest Test rugby venue)
is without doubt a fitting venue
for another Star Wars in the
making with both sides boasting
multi-talented players who have
starred for their countries on the
international rugby stage.
Stade Toulousain’s red jersey proudly
displays five gold stars and today
will encounter the Leinster blue jersey
displaying four gold stars in what
promises to be an epic encounter
between two of European rugby’s
premier teams.
Between us we have featured in a total
of 12 Heineken Cup finals with Toulouse
heading the leaderboard with five wins
followed by Leinster on four wins, with
Toulon and Saracens on three wins each.
We welcome Toulouse led by their club
captain Julien Marchand, Club President
Dedier Lacroix for what is the defence
of their win last season when they
defeated La Rochelle 22-17 in front of
a Covid-restricted crowd of 10,000 at
Twickenham.
Toulouse are also the TOP14 champions
of 2021 (their 21st title and the most
successful club in France’s 130-year-old
rugby tournament). They are currently
sixth in the TOP14 having won 13 of their
24 league fixtures and are just seven
league points behind the table-toppers
Montpellier.
Toulouse’s successes in the Heineken
Cup date back to the initial final in
1996 when they required extra-time to
defeat Cardiff 21-18. Their other four
final successes were against French
opposition. In 2003 they defeated
Perpignan in this very stadium. Their
third cup win came in 2005, when they
needed extra-time again to defeat Stade
Francais by 18-12 in Murrayfield.
Their 2010 win was against Biarritz, by a
score of 21-19 having defeated Leinster
in the semi-final. Their two Heineken Cup
final defeats were at the hands of Wasps
in 2004 (27-20) and Munster in 2008
(16-13). As we now know, last week, they
required extra-time and a penalty shoot
out to overcome Munster in this stadium
so perhaps Lady Luck might decide that
she has done her duty for them!
The Leinster squad of players
has excelled in our United Rugby
Championship and Heineken Champions
Cup campaigns this season and have
recorded a total of 18 wins from 23
competitive fixtures played.
Leinster’s 12 wins in the United Rugby
Championship have placed them in pole
position in the league table. A point to
note is that our 511 points scored is the
highest and that the 251 points conceded
is the lowest in the league. Our only
defeat at home was in the interpro derby
loss to Ulster.
Leinster have scored a total of 68 tries to
date in the United Rugby Championship.
Leinster’s six Heineken Champions Cup
fixtures played this season have resulted
in Leinster scoring 303 points and
crossing the try line on 42 occasions.
The combined total between the United
Rugby Championship and the Heineken
Champions Cup amounts to 814 points
scored and 110 tries.
Full credit has to be given to all our
Leinster coaches and backroom staff
8 | www.leinsterrugby.ie