The door to the rugby Pantheon was always going to swing open if Leinster could secure a third Heineken Cup win in four seasons, but they hurried the process along by kicking the thing off its hinges with this emphatic victory at Twickenham.

Ulster fought bravely throughout and had a couple of marvellous periods of pressure, but the class and ruthless efficiency of the Dubliners gave them a huge advantage when it mattered.

Only four-times winners Toulouse can now rival Leinster's claim to be the greatest team in Heineken Cup history, but the French giants were never as dominant for seasons on end as Leinster have been. Toulouse could slip up at times, but this Leinster side give no hint of that. They weathered Ulster's periods of ascendancy, took their punishment on the scoreboard, then hammered back upfield and dished out more of their own.

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