Champions Cup final: Leinster v Toulouse - All you need to know

Neil Treacy Neil Treacy | 05-25 08:15

The 29th Investec Champions Cup season gives us a final for the ages, as five-time winners Toulouse take on the four-time champions Leinster in London.

The 15th meeting of Europe's two most successful teams will be their first ever clash in a final, and all taking place in the novel surroundings of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Both sides have made light work of the opposition enroute to this final; Leinster, as they usually do, swept through the pool stage with four wins from four, before seeing off Leicester, defending champions La Rochelle, and the Northampton Saints to book their place in their eighth final, and third in row.

Toulouse, meanwhile, have been utterly dominant. Ugo Mola's side have scored a whopping 311 points, 92 more than Leinster have managed, while the French champions are averaging just under seven tries per game.

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It's forecast to be a dry afternoon in north London, with a mix of cloudy and sunny spells, and temperatures around 19C, with light wind.

The biggest game in the club rugby season, between the two most successful teams in the history of the Investec Champions Cup. What more could you ask for?

Between them, Leinster and Toulouse can boast nine titles and 14 final appearances, but this weekend, for the very first time, we get to see the two heavyweights touch gloves in the main event.

The pair are making a habit of crossing paths at the business end of the season, having met in the semi finals in 2023, 2022 and 2019, all three won handsomely by Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.

For Leo Cullen's side, this will a third final appearance in a row, a feat only achieved by Toulouse, Toulon and La Rochelle, but the pressure is on the province to break their losing streak, having lost two in a row.

A win for the province would see them draw level with their opponents as five-time winners of the Champions Cup, while defeat would create some unwanted history as the only side to lose four finals in total.

Leinster trounced Toulouse in the semi-finals of 2023 and 2022

Their defeats to La Rochelle in each of the last two seasons were agonising, with Ronan O'Gara's side winning by a combined four points across those two games, and scoring late tries to seal the deal on each occasion.

Leinster's recent dominance of this fixture gives them an 8-6 lead in the head-to-head standings across their previous 14 meetings, while Toulouse have only beaten Leinster once since 2010.

For one of the game's more famous rivalries, their meetings have often been one-sided. Only four of their 14 previous clashes have been won by a single-digit margin. Whoever wins tends to win well.

Toulouse, with the world's best player Antoine Dupont running the show, have cut teams open at will this season, but they've consistently struggled to do so against Leinster down the years.

A lot will depend on how whether or not they can find a way around, over, or through Leinster's defensive line, which has become more aggressive and confrontational since the arrival of Jacques Nienaber.


Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, Jason Jenkins; Ryan Baird, Will Connors, Caelan Doris (capt).

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley, Josh van der Flier.

Toulouse: Blair Kinghorn; Juan Cruz Mallia, Paul Costes, Pita Ahki, Matthis Lebel; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (capt); Cyril Baille, Peato Mauvaka, Dorian Aldegheri; Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou; Jack Willis, Francois Cros, Alexandre Roumat

Replacements: Julien Marchand, Rodrigue Neti, Joel Merkler, Richie Arnold, Joshua Brennan, Paul Graou, Santiago Chocobares, Thomas Ramos

Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)


PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Leinster 41-22 Stade Toulousain, Aviva Stadium (2022/23 semi-final)

Leinster 40-17 Stade Toulousain, Aviva Stadium (2021/22 semi-final)

Leinster 30-12 Stade Toulousain, Aviva Stadium (2018/19 semi-final)

Leinster 29-13 Stade Toulousain, RDS (2018/19 pool stage)

Stade Toulousain 28-27 Leinster, Stade Ernest Wallon (2018/19 pool stage)

Toulouse last beat Leinster in October 2018

PATHS TO THE FINAL

LEINSTER

La Rochelle 9-16 Leinster, Stade Marcel Deflandre

Leinster 37-27 Sale Sharks, RDS

Leinster 43-7 Stade Francais, Aviva Stadium

Leicester Tigers 10-27 Leinster, Mattioli Woods Welford Road

(Round of 16) Leinster 36-22 Leicester Tigers, Aviva Stadium

(Quarter-final) Leinster 40-13 La Rochelle, Aviva Stadium

(Semi-final) Leinster 20-17 Northampton Saints, Croke Park

Leinster were 20-17 winners against Northampton in their semi-final

TOULOUSE

Toulouse 52-7 Cardiff, Stade Ernest Wallon

Harlequins 19-47 Toulouse, Twickenham Stoop

Ulster 24-48 Toulouse, Kingspan Stadium

Toulouse 31-19 Bath, Stade Ernest Wallon

(Round of 16) Toulouse 31-7 Racing 92, Stade Ernest Wallon

(Quarter-final) Toulouse 64-26 Exeter Chiefs, Stade Ernest Wallon

(Semi-final) Toulouse 38-26 Harlequins, Stadium de Toulouse


FULL LIST OF FIXTURES AND RESULTS FOR CHAMPIONS CUP AND CHALLENGE CUP

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