The greatest Heineken Cup team – ever. Leinster may only have equalled Leicester in securing back-to-back wins in the Heineken Cup and they may still lag behind Toulouse in terms of trophies won, but a third win in four years – in Saturday's Twickenham encounter with Ulster – has, in the eyes of most pundits, put the Dubliners in a class of their own.
The result might have been expected – while Leinster had carried all before them since an opening day draw in Montpellier, Ulster had only squeaked into the quarter-finals after losing two of their pool matches – the margin defied all expectations.
Leinster's 42 points were a record for a Heineken Cup final, eclipsing Leicester's 34 in that nail-biting 34-30 win over Stade Francais in Paris in 2001, their five tries overtook Brive's record of four in the 1997 final and their 28-point winning margin overtook Brive's record of 19 in that same match against Leicester.
The records tumbled off the pitch as well. The 81,774 crowd at Twickenham was the best attendance at a Heineken Cup final, better by just 700 than the attendance at the all-English clash between Wasps and Leicester at the same stadium in 2007. The 125 countries that broadcast the match was also a record. And, as we've come to expect from European rugby's showpiece occasion, everyone – even the Ulster fans, who had a top-drawer try by Dan Touhy to savour – got their money's worth.
On a beautiful afternoon for rugby, the skill level displayed by both sides was heart-warmingly high.
While Ulster had the nigh-impeccable goal-kicking of Ruan Pienaar, the impressive forward surges of prop John Afoa and the dangerous backline breaks of centre Darren Cave, Leinster had the most tigerish defence – with the back-row demonstrating ruthless muscularity at close quarters, Isa Nacewa displaying uncanny timing in his crash tackling and the whole side showing unwavering concentration in their marking of space – that I have seen outside of international level.
They had skills in abundance, from the electric footwork of Brian O'Driscoll and the all-action linking of scrum-half Eoin Reddan to the spring-heeled agility of Rob Kearney.
They had power – from veteran lock Brad Thorn, adding yet another winners medal to his history-making collection, through the man-mountain back-rowers that are Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip through to a front row where Mike Ross was as outstanding in the tight as Cian Healey was in the loose. And they had a collective and clinical ruthlessness when the try-line was near
But so, too did the Crusaders. With seven titles and three final appearances in the 16 years since the competition began, they'd already earned their accolade of the greatest Super Rugby side of all time well before they kicked off their latest match on Saturday morning. By coincidence they too faced opponents from their own country, who had also tasted success in cross-border competition.
The Blues' last win in Super Rugby may have post-dated Ulster's solitary Heineken Cup success by four years, but their latest defeat at the hands of their own local rivals was even more comprehensive. With nine tries in their 59-12 win in Christchurch, the Crusaders not only crushed hapless opponents who had only managed to win two of their previous 11 matches, but also served notice on the rest of the Super 15 contenders.
And, as if anticipating the Leinster supershow at Twickenham, the Crusaders also made a powerful point ahead of this summer's international season, when Ireland will play a first ever three-Test series against New Zealand. Just as the European champions will provide the bulk of the touring party, so will the Crusaders provide the majority of the All Black squad.
There's just one crucial, and potentially worrying difference. Whereas northern hemisphere teams traditionally find it difficult – however dominant one of their domestic teams might be – to fuse the playing styles of more than one side, the All Blacks tend to find it easy. The New Zealand national team is infinitely and demonstrably better than the teams that underpin it.
The same cannot always be said about Ireland.
Nor even, for that matter about England, whose top players will – either in the Aviva Premiership between Harlequins and Leicester or in the following day's non-cap match against the Barbarians – be strutting their stuff at Twickenham this weekend. Last weekend's events will have given them plenty of food for thought.
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