AS THE TMO review rolled on and on, hope must have faded among the Leinster players and their supporters.
On first glance, it looked like Ross Byrne had dotted the ball down successfully in the left corner.
It would have been enough to edge Leinster into another Champions Cup final.
But as referee Pierre Brousset continued to review the incident, it became more and more muddy.
The Frenchman eventually ruled that Northampton lock Alex Coles had illegally stripped the ball from Josh van der Flier on the ground within inches of the tryline. Penalty and a yellow card against Coles.
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Which begged the question of whether it should have been a penalty try. If Coles hadn’t ripped the ball away, surely van der Flier would have reached out to finish?
But it wasn’t to be for Leinster.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” said Leinster prop Rabah Slimani after his side’s 37-34 semi-final defeat.
“I don’t understand the decision because if it’s a penalty and a yellow card, I don’t know why it’s not a try, but that’s the ref’s decision. He has his opinion,n but it’s hard.”
Slimani wasn’t pointing the finger of blame for Leinster’s defeat at the refereeing.
They still had one final chance after that decision and turned the ball over.
Leinster were left dejected. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
He believes Leinster needed to be stronger in defence on an evening when Northampton scored five tries.
“We lost some focus in defence but we never stopped the effort during the second half and we were very close at the end,” said Slimani.
“It’s very hard for the team but that’s the reality.
“Last year the semi-final against Northampton was very close and today too. I think it’s normal that we were a little bit nervous. We didn’t make a good start, they scored a lot of points. We lost by three points, that’s very disappointing.”
This was the first Champions Cup semi-final of 35-year-old Slimani’s career.
He has signed on to play with Leinster again next season but he remains hopeful that his first campaign will end with a trophy.
Slimani doesn’t believe that today’s defeat adds to the pressure to win the URC.
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“Not pressure, but now we have just one target,” he said.
“We are disappointed not to make the Champions Cup final but now the target is the URC. We have had a very good season in the URC, we need to continue that.”
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'I don’t understand the decision' - Leinster come agonisingly close
AS THE TMO review rolled on and on, hope must have faded among the Leinster players and their supporters.
On first glance, it looked like Ross Byrne had dotted the ball down successfully in the left corner.
It would have been enough to edge Leinster into another Champions Cup final.
But as referee Pierre Brousset continued to review the incident, it became more and more muddy.
The Frenchman eventually ruled that Northampton lock Alex Coles had illegally stripped the ball from Josh van der Flier on the ground within inches of the tryline. Penalty and a yellow card against Coles.
Which begged the question of whether it should have been a penalty try. If Coles hadn’t ripped the ball away, surely van der Flier would have reached out to finish?
But it wasn’t to be for Leinster.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” said Leinster prop Rabah Slimani after his side’s 37-34 semi-final defeat.
“I don’t understand the decision because if it’s a penalty and a yellow card, I don’t know why it’s not a try, but that’s the ref’s decision. He has his opinion,n but it’s hard.”
Slimani wasn’t pointing the finger of blame for Leinster’s defeat at the refereeing.
They still had one final chance after that decision and turned the ball over.
He believes Leinster needed to be stronger in defence on an evening when Northampton scored five tries.
“We lost some focus in defence but we never stopped the effort during the second half and we were very close at the end,” said Slimani.
“It’s very hard for the team but that’s the reality.
“Last year the semi-final against Northampton was very close and today too. I think it’s normal that we were a little bit nervous. We didn’t make a good start, they scored a lot of points. We lost by three points, that’s very disappointing.”
This was the first Champions Cup semi-final of 35-year-old Slimani’s career.
He has signed on to play with Leinster again next season but he remains hopeful that his first campaign will end with a trophy.
Slimani doesn’t believe that today’s defeat adds to the pressure to win the URC.
“Not pressure, but now we have just one target,” he said.
“We are disappointed not to make the Champions Cup final but now the target is the URC. We have had a very good season in the URC, we need to continue that.”
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