Having failed to produce their top level of form against Northampton at Croke Park last weekend, Leinster will have come away very relieved with their victory in the Champions Cup semi-final.
It was a good performance in the first half from the province, taking a 15-3 lead into the interval. However, they did not play their best rugby in the second half and could consider themselves fortunate to have gotten the win in the end.
Northampton will certainly feel like it was an opportunity missed, with semi-final victories on foreign soil a real rarity in the Champions Cup. In fact, it seems as though they hold some regrets over not pushing the boundaries of the laws of the game further at times in the fixture.
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Northampton star hints Leinster bent the rules in Champions Cup tie
Some feel that Leinster were the beneficiaries of some questionable decisions over the course of the game, especially when it came to the breakdown. Many in English rugby questioned if Northampton should have been awarded a penalty during the final ruck of the game, not the only incident that was highlighted after the final whistle.
Speaking on The Rugby Pod this week, Jim Hamilton said that referee Mathieu Raynal made a number of questionable calls at the breakdown that favoured Leinster.
Leinster are crawling at the breakdown, they're literally on their hands and knees around these breakdowns. Mental. I don't like calling them out, I'm not...
The Leinster-Northampton game is very topical going into the final. Leinster got away with a lot, Mathieu Raynal let them get away with a lot. Toulouse and the way they operate at the breakdown, the breakdown is so difficult to referee.
I can understand fans' frustration. If you're Northampton, I could pick out four or five where Mathieu Raynal made the wrong decision.
It certainly did appear as Leinster had identified this an area they could exploit against Northampton, something they executed to perfection on the day.
Northampton star Fin Smith also appeared on this episode of The Rugby Pod, and while he did not directly call out Leinster or the officials, he did hint that his team did not exploit the rules in the same way that their opponents did.
I think the word 'chaos' was thrown around a bit, there was no finger pointing at what they were doing and we weren't. It was chaos, it always is in Europe.
I think they pushed the boundaries well and we probably didn't do that as much. Fair play to them, they were bloody good and we didn't put our best stuff out there...
They were just throwing everything into every breakdown, whether they were jackaling and letting it wait a few seconds and throwing a couple of bodies into it.
I think it's always reffed slightly different in Europe, you're allowed a little bit more around maybe having a nibble with your hands on the floor, or if you're hitting someone and going off your feet, if you hit the person first you get away with it a bit more.
That's something we didn't adapt to very well and they were bob on it to be fair. That's all I'll say on that.
Smith would be complimented on his politeness by the hosts.
While Northampton will hold plenty of regrets over this game, it is clear Leinster will do the same after giving up what was a comfortable lead.
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