I could be all wrong but I thought it was noticeable La Rochelle gave penalties away right in front of the posts where they knew sexton wouldnât turn down the three points. The scrum wasnât going to be an option either.
It was a smart way for La Rochelle to conserve energy. No long Leinster phased on their line.
Remarkable cynicism if true.
I genuinely havenât a fcuking clue what Gerry is on about here, and I played the game to a reasonable level 
Thornleyâs an awful fucking poultice. So he is
Spends three quarters of the article whining about how unfair it was having to play in France before finishing up how great it is that the final will be in Dublin next year.
Gervais T is hurting badly
Hopefully he will have a trip to the land of the long white cloud for Irelands summer tour to perk him up
Did Jonny go off injured?
Thornley was lampooned by a fantastic parody twitter account (which mocked Cummiskey more than him) and he sent out a lovely solicitorâs letter to put a swift end to the fun.
He hurt himself kicking James Ryan.
Where did Leinster beat Toulouse?
As a counterpoint to GT moaning about Wayne Barnes the IT also have a column by a fellow called Owen Doyle who is high up I think on the refereeing side of things, or was. Owen thought Leinster were very lucky to finish with 15 men.
âWhen La Rochelleâs Arthur Retière squirrelled his way towards the Leinster try line and managed to slip the ball onto the whitewash it was the final, decisive, act of an engrossingly intense and, in every sense, huge match. Wayne Barnes wisely went to the TMO to check, to make doubly sure everything was completely in order.
However, the body language of all 15 Leinster players had already signalled that the game was up â the number of defenders should, of course, have been down to 14. Barnes played innumerable advantages followed by penalty awards during the build-up to the score and for the men in blue to escape without a âyellowâ was on the bizarre side of things. If Retière had come up short by the merest fraction, Barnesâ barrister best would have been needed to explain.
While, in the heel of any hunt, itâs undoubtedly more satisfying to win against a full-strength team, referees just cannot be so tolerant. Yellow cards have a definite purpose and are there to prevent just the sort of persistent infringements Leinster were desperately employing.
The sheer belief which Ronan OâGara has impressively instilled in his team is the hallmark of a top coach. The confidence simmered and spread throughout the whole town of La Rochelle during the week. Bars and cafĂŠs were full of people who were sure that the deal would, not just could, be done. Nobody was talking about anything else.
Breakdown ball
Had they lost, in addition to the non-card, there would have been other questions. While quite correctly wanting to ensure fast breakdown ball, Barnes seemed pretty quick to pull the penalty trigger on the French team, particularly in the first half.
Then there was a scrum on Leinsterâs five-metre line. Barnes looked to be raising his arm to reward La Rochelle when his assistant made him think again and the decision went the other way. Leinster went downfield from there, and kicked a penalty, three points added.
Of course, Leo Cullen will have queries, maybe talk about the ball being slowed, but there was really nothing Barnes did that materially affected the result. Three tries to none tells its very own story and itâs hard to recall the last time Cullenâs men failed to cross the line. Two great teams, with victory going to the best team on the day.
Up front Gregory Alldritt, Will Skelton and Pierre Bourgarit were immense and the oft-flakey goal kicker Ihaia West couldnât miss. It all added up to just too much for Leinster to handle, but not, it must be said, by much, just inches.
Nowhere to go
The La Rochelle defence strangled and smothered Leinsterâs attack which found, quite simply, that there was nowhere to go. For James Lowe read Raymond Rhule, the Rochelais winger had a superb match, including scorching Hugo Keenan for a terrific try.
Even then Leinster had opportunities to kick to the corner and trust their DNA to score, but instead they decided to keep the scoreboard ticking over and for a while it looked like the silver boot of Johnny Sexton would be enough to bring home the fifth gold star. But it didnât work and left them vulnerable to exactly what happened.
English is rugbyâs official language and French referees have become very fluent, even having conversations with their fellow TMOs in that language. While some simple French rugby phrases are ideal, it didnât seem the best notion for Barnes â without anything approaching similar fluency â to try his hand at dialogue. Amusingly, I think I heard âlĂ , or here?â
In the Challenge Cup final on Friday evening, Toulonâs Sergio Parisse got the ball rolling. Unfortunately, it was for the opposition, a sloppy pass on his own 22 screamed âintercept meâ as it left his hands. Lyonâs Jordan Taufau gratefully fielded the gift and sent scrumhalf Baptiste Couillod in for seven points. The whole affair could have been over well before half-time in Lyonâs favour â but a tiny knock-on, and a foot grazing the dead ball line, saw two tries accurately ruled out.
Penalty try
Early in the second half we saw the clearest-cut example of a penalty try in European rugby history when Toulonâs full back Aymeric Luc desperately batted forward a scoring pass intended for Niniashvilli. That was another seven points, and Luc headed for the compulsory 10 minutes in the bin. While he was away, Lyon centre Pierre-Louis Barassi grabbed a further converted try and it was all pretty much done and dusted.
Lyon really whipped up a storm. Itâs hard to credit that when they last met in the Top 14, in April, Toulon won at a canter, 43-10. Winners of the Champions Cup three years in a row, they trudged off the pitch having now lost four Challenge Cup finals in 12 years.
Why, sometimes, is a cheap shot not a cheap shot, and dangerous play is not penalised? When Toulonâs Eben Etzebeth slammed his massive 122kg frame into the spine, just below the back of the neck, of Lyonâs Davit Niniashvili, he was attempting to grasp, and it wasnât easy to discern direct head contact. Niniashvilli had been in a sort of sitting position having completed a tackle and completely exposed to the violent hit, his head whiplashed.
Contact protocals
The officials decided that events did not match the head contact protocols, so took no action. They may find it tricky to go outsidecou these, but there is a catch-all law in the book which allows referees to do exactly that â it is, unsurprisingly, long forgotten.
Niniashvelli, clearly concussed, was not removed immediately, nonsensically being allowed to continue for the next play. Another blow for player welfare.
Luke Pearce had a good match, and was not too interested in scrum resets, a far better policy than those who have earned a reputation for over-patience, which is the best known recipe for cooking up collapses. Yes, his communication, and needless over-smiling chumminess, grated, but it was hard to fault his performance in an easy enough assignment.
The match never approached anything like the red meat intensity of the main course which followed on Saturday, but, nonetheless, it was a pleasant enough starter.
Were Leinster winning or losing when he went off?
Far too much rugby chat in this thread lads. Piss off please
They were winning by a point.
Toulouse were shafted by the schedule. Having to fly back to Dublin 7 days after playing Munster In extra time was always going to be incredibly tough. Probably two days less prep time than Leinster.
Hard to believe they werent prepared for him getting injured.
Dublin. Theh have lost 5 successive knockout games in France
That was their own choice to go home in fairness. Why didnât they stay put 
Iâd assume it would cost a fortune. To find a hotel and training pitch in Dublin on a Saturday evening for 50 or so people would not be easy.
Flying over and back on a chartered flight would have cost a fortune too. This is part of the day job for them logistically