Press coverage

[fungalboy]

Can people who have access to articles from coverage of the QF of previews of the SF post them here?

Would be interested to see the article that mentioned the island, somebody said it was in the IT yesterday...

Thanks.

[the_git]

Here is the island report fungalboy
I have some great pics of the island antics starting on Friday afternoon.

Leinster and fans silence the cynics
John O'Sullivan in Toulouse

Brian Blaney jumps on Eric Miller as Leinster players celebrate their sensational victory over the European champions in Toulouse.
Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho

Leinster 41 Toulouse 35: The sniggering about Dublin 4 simply won't wash anymore. They journeyed from Longford, Louth, Laois, Kilkenny and all points between, 6,000 Leinster supporters converging on Toulouse for a weekend starting in hope but culminating in glorious triumph.

Leinster beat Toulouse 41-35 before a capacity 37,000 crowd at Le Stadium, dethroning the reigning and three-time Heineken European Cup kingpins in spectacular fashion.

The streets, cafes, restaurants and pubs were thronged with blue-clad supporters, young and old, male and female.

Trevor Brennan's celebrated watering-hole and local institution, De Danu, was swamped, supporters willingly vacuum packed, so much so that one enterprising set of punters borrowed some chairs and a table, setting them up on the traffic island in the middle of the road, much to the bemusement of locals.

Tee-shirts bearing the exhortation "Allez Les Bleus, Toulouse 06" were handed out and worn, so too bunting and flags, jerseys, scarves and hats.

If a team came of age on Saturday afternoon then so did their supporters.

On the pitch the quality of Leinster's play baffled not alone Toulouse but also their supporters. The magnificent canvas of red and black that served as a backdrop was far less intimidating when the Irish province reached for the mute button by virtue of their performance.
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Only sporadically were the klaxons and air-horns drowned out by the growling, familiar S-T-A-D-E T-O-U-L-O-U-S-A-I-N.

Instead it was the slightly surreal incantation of Allez Les Bleus from Irish throats that accompanied the onfield antics.

The players were quick to express appreciation. Malcolm O'Kelly admitted, "For us to get that sort of support, which we have never had (in those numbers away from home) was fantastic.

"It just shows how much rugby has grown in Ireland, which is down to the success of the national team, Munster and what have you. Leinster now has a good travelling support and hopefully they will stick by us. The fans were brilliant and helped to lift the players."

It was instructive to note at the final whistle that the Leinster players didn't do a lap of honour, instead staying largely in the centre of the pitch and acknowledging the pockets of supporters.

The basis for their low-key on-pitch reaction was deliberate: an emphasis that this is merely another staging post in their season. No one will be satisfied if the road turns into a cul-de-sac.

It's also a measure of their performance that Leinster received a standing ovation from the home supporters, a rare accolade in these parts.

In fact none of the local journalists could recall the last team to be afforded one.

It was a wonderful team effort with man-of-the-match Felipe Contepomi and Keith Gleeson in the van.

Leinster coach Michael Cheika laughed off his Argentinian maestro: "Felipe was pretty good - we get sick of saying that. He created space for us out wide with some of his runs. He's a superb competitor."

Contepomi stayed in Toulouse overnight to spend it with some extended family and was nearly joined by his team-mates.

Their scheduled 10pm Saturday-night departure on a charter was put back to 1.10am, but in keeping with the occasion, they were whisked to the business-class bubble of another flight, embarking to yet another standing ovation.

Cheika tried to put the occasion in context: "It was a big issue in belief for us. There are a lot of people that didn't think we could do it. I would imagine that there was a lot of doubt in players' minds, so belief was the key.

"One important thing we did stress was not to stop - if we did get a lead not to stop; because if you try to shut up shop they'd hammer us. We just had to keep on attacking because that's our game. It's what we enjoy doing.

"(When) we were ahead we needed to focus on ourselves and what we wanted to do with the ball. We needed to challenge their defence and see if we could orchestrate the match.

"If you worry about Toulouse too much then you'd never sleep because they're so dangerous from every part of the pitch. But we couldn't go into our shell. We had to keep believing in ourselves and that's what we did."

Cheika and his management team - including David Knox, Gerry Murphy, Mike Brewer and Roly Meates - as well as the players and supporters should reflect with satisfaction on what they achieved and witnessed in the South of France over the weekend.

Team Leinster in every sense.

[Uncle Mort]

Here is the island report fungalboy
I have some great pics of the island antics starting on Friday afternoon.

Get them up on the site then!!

[ckav]

Jesus, that is one hell of an article. When you think of all the slagging we've taken over the years....shows how far we've come. Brilliant. I'm keeping yesterday's Irish times Sports Supplement, just because...

[fungalboy]

Thanks git.

[harryp]

I read it 3 times on the plane yesterday. Pure Class.

Any sign of those photos from Friday. I'm a bit worried!

[the_git]

Any sign of those photos from Friday. I'm a bit worried!

Have two on the More pictures thread