Leo Cullen launched an impassioned defence of his Leinster team after they survived a late scare to see off Toulon and return to the Investec Champions Cup final.
The four-time champions have lost four finals since last winning the tournament in Bilbao in 2018 and get another shot at a fifth star when they face either Bordeaux-Begles or Bath in the decider on 23 May, back in the Basque Country.
Leinster led by 18 points with just over 10 minutes remaining at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon but conceded two converted tries and scrambled to deny a winning score when Toulon broke from deep before knocking on in the 22.
Beaten six times in the United Rugby Championship already, Leinster have not enjoyed their usual stellar run in the competition and while they played well in patches and overcame two yellow cards, they were made to sweat thanks to a number of errors, while there were eight points missed off the tee.
Asked to sum up the 29-25 win and the final 10 minutes, Cullen spoke at length, referencing last season's semi-final loss to Northampton and the perceived hostility from the media towards Leinster.
"The game had a bit of everything," he said.
"It's never going to go to script, is it? We started the game well, we had the better chances, Jamison [Gibson-Park's] try got disallowed, and you wonder will some of those chances come back to bite us later in the game.
"We had a 14-6 lead and we have a bit of a wobble, discipline lets you down and you lose two players to the bin in pretty short succession.
"You’re 14-11 at that stage and then make plans for the second half.
"What 29-11? For everyone’s stress levels it would be nice to keep that margin of scoreline.
"But Toulon have quality on the bench, because they recruit from the four corners of the globe, they tested us, a huge amount of credit to them, they really tested us, they got in for tries, and we’re sort of hanging in at the end
"But that’s where you have to show some guts and courage and chase back at the end, that’s just commitment."
Addressing the nervy final moments, he also recalled the end stages of last year's defeat at this stage.
He said: "Naturally you try and protect things don’t you? The other team is throwing everything at you.
"We were sitting in this room this time last year, we were in that situation we were throwing everything at Northampton, listen [Henry] Pollock gets a poach and it should have been a penalty, but nobody wants to report about it after, we should have had a penalty try and nobody wants to report on it.
"You [the media] just want to kick the boot into us, don’t you?
"And that’s the way it goes. The reality is the way I would see a semi-final is there are two teams going at it and there is a winner and loser and it’s not to kick the team that loses.
"I thought Toulon were amazing to go at it until the very end. And they’re decided on the tightest of margins, semi-finals.
"I have to applaud the players for the desire throughout the season to want to put themselves back in this situation because, listen, you guys love throwing the boot into us, don’t you?
"You guys love throwing the boot into us when things don’t go well.
"Whatever sells, because you read plenty of it.
"You’d love if everyone got behind the team now when you’re up against juggernauts of the game because it is not easy doing it, is it?
"We’re the only Irish province left in the competition, but the group will still continue to do what we do. It’s not always pretty, but we’re up against some serious teams. It’s insanely hard to win this competition."
Meanwhile, Cullen issued an update on Robbie Henshaw (above) and Josh van der Flier, who were both replaced after suffering head injuries, among others who took knocks. Henshaw was taken off on a medical cart after just 14 minutes.
"They'll go through the graduated return-to-play [protocols] as standard," he said.
"The two of them are OK there now. Listen, we'll get them checked out and make sure everything is OK.
"Jack [Conan] obviously hobbled off with his knee. He's pretty bullish in there, saying he’s fine. Again, we'll get him checked. Tommy [O'Brien] went off as well, I think he's cramping is what’s going on there. That's the majority of it.
"Jamo shipped a couple of knocks. You could see they were targeting him right from the very start of the game but Jamison is made of tough stuff. He managed himself through the game.
"Generally, I think the lads are not bad. A game of this magnitude, everyone has thrown themselves into the contact area. Nobody is leaving anything out there. It's all out there.
"It's great. It's what you want from a game at this stage of the competition. Credit to the lads for getting the job done.
"They're making it a bit more stressful than we would like, as coaches and supporters, but it sort of adds to the intrigue as well."
