The poster sparked huge excitement among Leinster supporters.
As soon as the ticket office opened, 30,000 tickets were snapped up in less than 24 hours.
And the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (51,000 seats) will obviously be full this afternoon (kick-off at 4 p.m.) for this clash of titans.
Face to face, the two giants of the continent.
Five crowns - the record - for Stade Toulousain, four for the Irish province of Leinster.
Fourteenth European semi-final for the Rouge-et-Noir (again the record), thirteenth for the ''Boys in blue''.
An XXL duel between two teams who have already faced each other twelve times.
For a record that could not be more balanced: six victories each…
Leinster dominated Montpellier 89 to 7...
Can Toulouse take the advantage in this series?
That would be a huge, insane feat.
Leinster are rolling over everyone this season.
The leader of the United Rugby Championship (the former Celtic League, now reinforced by four South African franchises) has won all its European matches, inflicting an improbable 89 to 7 on standing KO Montpellier residents, winning 64 to 7 on the lawn of the English in Bath, scoring 82 points in two sets against their neighbor Connacht in the round of 16.
Before hitting harder and harder by qualifying in the den of the Leicester Tigers, unrivaled leader in the English championship, in the quarter-finals (23 to 14).
Read alsoRugby, Champions Cup: Jelonch, Baille and Mallia holders against Leinster
A steamroller that is enough to give the first opponent come nightmares.
Except that Stade Toulousain is not the first opponent to come.
Reigning European champion, his players are driven by the spirit of impregnable champions.
The Irish of Ulster and Munster can testify to this.
The French champions reversed the situation in Belfast in the round of 16 and then snatched their qualification on penalties in the quarter-finals, already in Dublin.
A triumph this Saturday in Dublin against what comes closest to the Irish team and the Toulouse team would complete an unprecedented hat-trick in the lands of Eire.
“Toulouseans have a sixth sense, an instinct to find each other.
»
Garry Ringrose, Leinster center
The Leinstermen are not mistaken.
They have been careful all week not to irritate their future opponent.
Do not give grain to grind to the speech of motivation of Ugo Mola but, on the contrary, to add some in humility and respect.
“
It will be a test against a very big European, the only team with five stars on the jersey
, thus summed up the Irish center three-quarter Garry Ringrose.
The Toulousains are not afraid to move because they have proven that they are capable of imposing themselves on the outside.
»
Read alsoChampions Cup: Toulouse is experiencing “a somewhat bizarre season”, recognizes Lebel
An appetizer before expressing his deep admiration.
“
The Toulousains have a lot of quality behind them.
They can score from anywhere on the field.
They keep the ball alive, play after contact.
They have a sixth sense, an instinct to find each other.
They are perfectly timed and very difficult to stop.
Toulouse also has one of the best hinges in the world, hence a great maturity in the management of the game. They will still raise their level of play against us.
»
The Motivational Tank
Same cat caution among the people of Toulouse, who return the compliments.
“
Leinster is one of the finest teams in Europe.
I hope that we have matured and that we will not take a steamroller like in 2019
”, commented the Toulouse captain, Julien Marchand.
Who still remembers the semi-final lost in the same place, 30 to 12. Like a desire for revenge to fuel the motivation reservoir a little more...
The back, and goalscorer, Thomas Ramos advances another fuel.
The stadium, colorful, noisy, hostile (but respectful).
“
These are atmospheres that we like.
Big matches that we like to play.
That we've been waiting for all season.
To enter each time a little more into the legend.
