A clinical Leinster side crossed five times in the all-Irish decider at Twickenham, clinching their third title in four years. Schmidt, whose team led 14-6 at half-time, hailed the efforts of his side, particularly in defence.
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“We couldn’t get the ball back off them for long periods and I thought they deserved the try,” Schmidt said. ”At the same time, I was incredibly proud of the way we defended, a number of phases for a number of minutes in the period after half-time we were excellent.
“When they did score for us to turn it round and score pretty quickly ourselves was pivotal, at that stage the game was pretty much gone.”
Leinster captain Leo Cullen said he was impressed with the way his team lifted the tempo after half-time.
“We are trying to win all the time I guess but it is just the way it has panned out,” Cullen said. ”We targeted it at the start of the second half and we ramped things up during that period, we are just delighted to be honest but I can’t even remember what happened after half-time.”
Ulster’s Rory Best was proud of his team despite the loss, and said they would learn from the defeat.
“There is no point sitting here and looking for excuses. They are a very good rugby team and we learnt a lot last year and will probably learn more from this,” Best said. ”It was heartbreaking watching Leinster lift the trophy but that is what you learn from, you have to stand up and watch that and use it to drive you on for next year.”
They’re not as ‘out on their feet’ as last year – Schmidt has done a great job with squad rotation – they look fresh enough – last year they just didn’t have another game in them. They don’t look like that this year.
This ungracious bullsh@t between supporters is just not rugby. Supported Munster in their finals. Support Leinster in theirs and if there is ever an Irish team playing I support them. That is how it should be. This tit for tat crap about best province etc. is BOllOX. Great day for Irish rugby. Connacht back next year. 5 Irish won HC’s in 7 years. Hopefully 2 Magners (or pro 12) in 3 years for Irish teams next week.
Can we not just be happy with that and hope that all provinces get out of the group stages next year?
Exactly how I feel, I love the fact how Irish rugby is at the moment, I remember the bad auld days and love the way All the provinces are par excellence
Good man El Rat,I was wondering where you’d pop up with your wit !! I know ,watching Leinster match after match producing those performances does get repetitive After a while !
Must say that Edinburgh is my favourite…hearing them sing oh flower of Scotland would cause the hair to stand pneumonia thwarting back of your head…also good for the HC matches…problem with twickers is after the match there is too many places to go…not like Cardiff or Edinburgh where there are people who were at the match everywhere you go…
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Well deserved win. I hope they can pull it off next Sunday too.
They’re not as ‘out on their feet’ as last year – Schmidt has done a great job with squad rotation – they look fresh enough – last year they just didn’t have another game in them. They don’t look like that this year.
now for the double for the best province in Ireland.
Yawn .
Great achievement by Leinster , pity about fans like you though
This ungracious bullsh@t between supporters is just not rugby. Supported Munster in their finals. Support Leinster in theirs and if there is ever an Irish team playing I support them. That is how it should be. This tit for tat crap about best province etc. is BOllOX. Great day for Irish rugby. Connacht back next year. 5 Irish won HC’s in 7 years. Hopefully 2 Magners (or pro 12) in 3 years for Irish teams next week.
Can we not just be happy with that and hope that all provinces get out of the group stages next year?
Well said !
Exactly how I feel, I love the fact how Irish rugby is at the moment, I remember the bad auld days and love the way All the provinces are par excellence
Good man El Rat,I was wondering where you’d pop up with your wit !! I know ,watching Leinster match after match producing those performances does get repetitive After a while !
ha ha, good one, Phil.
Great atmosphere at the game yesterday, though not as good as last year. The Millennium is the best stadium to watch rugby by far.
Must say that Edinburgh is my favourite…hearing them sing oh flower of Scotland would cause the hair to stand pneumonia thwarting back of your head…also good for the HC matches…problem with twickers is after the match there is too many places to go…not like Cardiff or Edinburgh where there are people who were at the match everywhere you go…
* pneumonia thwarting should actually read “on the”…i.e. hairs stand on the back of your head…damn autotext…
How long before he’s offered the Ireland job?