Writing in the Observer, Michael Aylwin reports from Leinster's Heineken Cup Final victory over Leicester at Murrayfield.
"Ireland's year then, no question. There is a new name on the Heineken Cup, and it is that of Leinster, so long dismissed by the rugby cognoscenti as flash Harrys who did not have a stomach for the fight. They have now put that theory to bed. But what a game Leicester made of it, a surely exhausted outfit pushing their Irish rivals to the brink without ever quite threatening to win the game.
"Leo Cullen was able to step and collect the trophy, holding it high above the heads of the team that many felt had been the making of him as a player, Leicester. He and his team-mates were as unrelenting, indeed, as those Leicester teams of yore. Despite dominating throughout, Leinster managed to find themselves behind for around 20 minutes either side of half-time, as if to prove that they had the hardness now to thrive in adversity."
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