In the wake of yet another close Champions Cup final defeat for Leinster against Toulouse on Saturday, there has been a serious post-mortem done to figure out what went wrong this time around for the Boys in Blue.
Most of the criticism placed on Leo Cullen's side has come from Leinster's reluctance to kick for the posts and take the points on offer. Instead Leinster - especially in the second half - kept to their game plan of using the maul from lineouts to try and get over the line despite the lack of success coming from it.
This was in contrast to the attacking game plan for Toulouse, as Ugo Mola's side opted to kick for points for most of their scores. Blair Kinghorn and substitute Thomas Ramos converted eight penalties between them as Le Stade won their 6th Champions Cup 22-31 after extra-time despite their lower possession and a man disadvantage in the second half of extra time.
Toulouse are so close they can almost see their reflection in the trophy 🏉🏆
📺 Watch the #InvestecChampionsCup final 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 on @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/awqcgLD5fT— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) May 25, 2024
READ HERE: TMO Seemed To Miss Likely Red Card Tackle On Caelan Doris From Toulouse Star
READ HERE: French Newspaper Offer Withering Takedown Of Leinster After Latest Champions Cup Failure
Bernard Jackman's Maul Stat Breakdown
For much of the second half, Leinster kept pushing for the corner instead of the posts and kept being stopped maul after maul after maul by Toulouse.
Speaking on RTÉ Rugby Podcast on Wednesday, Bernard Jackman presented several maul statistics that will raise eyebrows when analysing Leinster's insistence on the maul.
The stats show that Toulouse are incredibly strong in defending the maul while Leinster - despite their physical strength - aren't hugely effective with it or is it a tactic they use often in attack. Jackman questions if these stats were considered by the Leinster coaches in the preparations for the match.
The Top14 is a maul and brawl competition. You get tested in the maul in the Top14 every week because that’s what the crap teams do. But this Toulouse pack have conceded the second least maul tries and actually are top in terms of (least) maul metres conceded.
"But then on the opposite side of things, Leinster have the third lowest maul meters in the URC, which is an easy competition to maul in because it’s not something that the URC teams really go after.
"It’s not something Leinster are particularly good at or do very often. And they decided that was the way, that it was what they wanted to do and it wasn’t just once, it was twice, it was three times.
"People say it was hindsight, but hindsight isn’t the stats going into the game. Hindsight is the plan you made based on the evidence you see. That’s what I find interesting."
When it is put in that perspective, it is interesting to think as to if Leinster looked at these stats while preparing their game plan and to think what could have been if they had been more willing to kick for goal.
But Leinster have other things to prepare for now and must get the thought of last Saturday out of their system as they prepare to battle for the URC title as the playoffs approach.
