NORTHAMPTON SAINTS STAR Ben Foden showed his disappointment with Heineken Cup defeat when he flicked away his runners-up medal as he sat watching the Leinster celebrations on the Millennium Stadium pitch.
Afterwards, in the bowels of the stadium, the England man admitted the comeback from the Irish province was hard to take.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow at the moment. You play this game to be in matches like this. Going in at half-time 22-6 up and with the rugby we played, you sort of have one foot through the door. But no final is played in 40 minutes, and they sort of blew us away in that 15 minutes.
“Like I said, we’re a young team and these moments sort of bring us together more as a team. Hopefully it’ll rally us to make sure it doesn’t happen again and we’ll build for next year.
“Rugby is a funny game. They got the momentum. Little moments like getting a scrum going gave them a little push and they got enough momentum. There were little mistakes and they crept into our game.
“All credit to Leinster. They’re crowned European champions for a reason and they’ve played brilliantly throughout the competition. We knew that if we were to win today, we’d have to play for a full eighty minutes and that we’d have to play out of our skin. They had a 20-minute roll where they got all their points and after that we were chasing the game,” he said.
Manager Jim Mallinder said he wasn’t surprised by Leinster’s remarkable fightback after the break.
“We knew they were a very dangerous side and that they’d be capable of scoring tries. They came out in the second half and they played well. They put us on the back foot and we had to make a lot of tackles. A lot of credit to them for the way in which they played.
“It’s still raw at the moment. It’s painful coming to a cup final and losing and seeing the other side celebrate. I think what we will do, in time, is reflect on what a great season it’s been for us. It’s tough – we played a tough semi final last week and an incredibly tough final today. I’m just nothing but immensely proud to be part of this team.
“It was an absolutely tremendous effort. Everybody gave absolutely everything that they possibly could. You couldn’t ask for any more,” he added.
- additional reporting Niall Kelly
