The best-laid plans of the European Rugby Cup organisers were French toast last night, after Leinster joined Munster in failing to qualify for next month's decider at Lansdowne Road, writes Frank McNally.
As Oscar Wilde might have put it, to lose one Irish team from the May 24th final might be considered unfortunate. But Toulouse-Perpignan, in Dublin, seems like carelessness.
When the weekend began, an all-Irish showdown for the championship of Europe seemed a distinct possibility. The risk of a Gallic rather than Gaelic final grew on Saturday, however, when Munster were just beaten in France. And when Perpignan pulled clear in the late stages of yesterday's semi-final in Dublin, the Lansdowne roar was replaced by a groan, from home fans and ERC directors alike. Maybe French rugby followers can be persuaded to like Dublin in the springtime, but they weren't too enthused about it yesterday, when Perpignan's fans barely outnumbered their players. The hosts can only hope they were saving up for the final.
Contrary to most predictions, it was Munster who went closer to providing an Irish finalist. Braving relentless pressure from a powerful Toulouse side, they went behind late on to the game's only try, before mounting a desperate rally. The script demanded a Ronan O'Gara drop-goal, like the one that beat Wales in the Six Nations. And twice he was cued up for it, but each time he slightly fluffed his line. At least Munster and their fans were passionate in defeat. Leinster and theirs are still not as convincing.
Despite drawing a 42,000 crowd, the Lansdowne lions never quite roared. The fans did, just about, but it said something about the combined home performance that you could occasionally hear the Perpignan supporters.
With an English-speaking male voice and a French-speaking female sharing the PA announcements on everything from scores to blood injuries, the event sounded a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest.
Unfortunately, too many of Leinster's penalty kicks earned nul points from the jury of touch judges, and the backline was rarely in harmony. By the time Brian O'Driscoll's departure due to injury was announced in English and French, the credits were rolling to the strains of What's Another Year?