Ciaran Frawley’s drop goal attempt in the 79th minute could have won it for Leinster in regulation, while they were within three points and had a man advantage at the halfway point of extra time after Toulouse’s Richie Arnold had been sent off.

The French side, however, regained the momentum and scored the game’s final six points through the boot of Thomas Ramos.

“Everyone’s devastated in there now, they poured a hell of a lot into it,” said Leinster’s head coach Leo Cullen.

“I think it’s two very good squads of players going at it in an amazing stadium and it comes down to the finest margins.

“There’s a drop goal at the end and if it goes a metre to the right we’re having a very different conversation in here.

“That’s the nature of sport at the top and obviously we’ve been on the losing side, unfortunately, on a few occasions now.

“You get this narrative that builds off the back of that. People start adding all the different bits together, but when you break down this specific game it came down to very tight calls at different stages and not enough of them went our way, unfortunately.”