Leinster 22 Stade Toulousain 31 (25th May 2024)
I’ve been to Spurs’ new stadium before, and the old White Hart Lane was the first ever football ground I went to, back in April 1984, so it’s fairly familiar for me, but seeing the stadium in rugby clothing was a first. Whatever shape the posts are though, I will maintain that this new stadium is easily the best in the country. With the streets around the stadium closed off, creating an area for fans to mill about on this sunny afternoon, and ‘street food’ sellers now lining the routes to the stadium, even Tottenham’s reputation as being an area with little to commend it is put under strain.
There were grumbles. Tickets being on an app meant entry was much slower than with paper tickets, as every app failure caused a hold up. And the beer queues were notoriously slow, with only person able to use the beer pump, which they then had to pour from one glass into a flimsy plastic cup, for every single order. And the less said about the £5.25 sausage roll the better.
But otherwise it was a great occasion, with the two most successful clubs in the history of rugby equivalent of the Champions League meeting in the final. A game that was captivating, but also quite niggly, and an amount of refereeing decisions ‘sent upstairs’ to the TMO meant the game lasted three hours, and there were plenty of occasions for the crowd to boo and question the referee’s eyesight and mental faculties. Four tries were ruled out, and a fifth only allowed after a very lengthy stoppage.
Leinster, backed by the large majority of those in this 61,500 crowd, could have won it. They missed a drop goal to win, with 30 seconds left, and playing the whole of the second half of extra time with a man advantage, somehow they let a three-point deficit stretch to nine points, and end their hopes of a fifth European title. Toulouse, more renowned for flair, earned this one through grit, and the fact that only one try was in their 31 point tally won’t bother them one bit. The sixth star on their shirts is, I’m sure, all that matters.
Stadiums and Cities 