Leinster fans have their say

Leinster’s Heineken Cup defence came to an end on Saturday afternoon after a 10-point defeat to Toulouse in the south of France.

Two tries in the space of four second half minutes from the three-time Heineken Cup winners saw them book a place in the final in Paris later this month.

Leinster’s scrum capitulated under the pressure, with Ireland international Cian Healy replaced after just half an hour.

But the fans around the internet forums have also been pointing the finger at CJ van der Linde, while out half Shaun Berne, who replaced the injured Jonathan Sexton, and Number 8 Jamie Heaslip were two Leinster players singled out for praise.

On leinsterfans.com, Bones wrote: “I’ve not criticised CJ here at all before, but his performance … was the last straw. Destructive scrummager my hairy hole and if brains were dynamite he wouldn’t have enough to blow off his hat.”

leinster10 added: “Healy crumbled today, I really think he could have a future at hooker, and because he is young it might be a good time to make the transition, Heaslip exceptional again today behind a retreating scrum and Berne answered all his critics, showed real bottle for those kicks.”

Meanwhile, there was some magnanimity from D2 Blue: “It’s probably no consolation but there’s no shame in being beaten by a better team and they were the better team. I don’t usually believe in being a gracious loser but I’ve downgraded my king-sized sulk to a whimper because I sort of felt it was coming. They weren’t even at the top of their game but they cut loose when they needed to. Too many things went wrong, too many guys didn’t stand up and the injuries have really taken their toll.”