JOHNNY WATTERSONhears from a bemused Shane Jennings and a typically honest Michael Cheika, who both agree the Ospreys were the better team

THE METAPHOR for Leinster’s season perhaps arrived after the match. The interview room full, Michael Cheika having said his words, captain Shane Jennings entered the post-match drama from stage left, limped slowly across the front of the gathering, slow enough for a hushed silence as he sat down.

Injured, defeated, bemused disappointment etched on his face, there was no next week to rectify this one. There was nothing team bonding, more efficient off-loads or slicker set-pieces could fix. There was no other chance. The verities of cup finals bit Leinster hard and Jennings wore it with pain.

Beneath it all was a truism that had to be faced, one that didn’t really add up given the occasion and Leinster’s prowess. Leinster were beaten by the better team. Individually, collectively, Ospreys won the night. The words, “I don’t know”, fell from Jennings lips at least twice.

“I don’t know, to be honest. Lousy way to finish. It doesn’t feel good. Sorry for the short answer. But that’s what it feels like,” said the flanker in staccato and struggling to analyse a game that had flashed by minutes before.

“They played a bit and they beat us. It’s a tough one because we didn’t do ourselves justice. We weren’t let. We certainly don’t have excuses. We didn’t perform well enough. We were beaten on the day.”

Jennings was offered a few lifelines. Maybe it was it nerves, over-eagerness, the soaring expectations of a packed RDS. Maybe too there was no rationale.

“God knows. I’ve no idea,” he added. “I knocked on a ball, other lads knocked on a ball. I don’t know what it was.

“Going into contact was sloppy at times . . . things we’re pretty good at usually. You can’t be inconsistent. If you’re inconsistent against a good team you’re not going to get sustained pressure.”

Cheika has rarely been accused of not being straight. The Australian’s last match in charge before taking over Stade Français next season conspired to be his biggest disappointment. The Heineken Cup semi-final loss in Toulouse was almost bearable. But the Magners League could have been reasonable compensation and was set up for the home team to take advantage. For that defeat cut all the more deeper.

“We showed lots of ticker. We showed lots of heart to get back in, to get back in and get to within one score,” said Cheika. “Couldn’t do it. Couldn’t get the try to get us past them.

“When we released pressure off them they converted that in to points. When they released pressure off us we weren’t able to convert that in to try-scoring points. We weren’t able to convert enough points, enough to put them back under pressure.”

There were some ready-made bunkers where the coach could take cover had he wished. The loss of match captain Jennings, Kevin McLaughlin and Stephen Keogh forced significant shuffling in the backrow. Cian Healy had been ill but came on in the second half. Club captain Leo Cullen was at pitch side, his arm in a sling and Luke Fitzgerald was somewhere, not on the pitch. But it’s not his style to hunker down from the flak.

“It’s not great. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. You know, the backrow changes don’t help, people drop the ball. Yes, in the overall picture the guys that came on did their best. It wasn’t ideal but in the first half where we didn’t put pressure on which is what knock-out football is about.

“If you make a lot of mistakes you take pressure off and that’s what happened. There are no excuses. It’s a final. Two teams went out there and Ospreys played better than us on the night.

“We left a few too many loose ends for this level of football. That’s the honest truth.

“I could make excuses and say ‘well Luke Fitzgerald is missing’. But this is what we’ve become, a team that can say we’ve played well or we didn’t play well. We’ll take it on the chin. We got to do better. We don’t let it happen again when the next time comes.”

There will be no next time for Malcolm O’Kelly, Girvan Dempsey, Bernard Jackman or Cheika.

Dempsey emotionally carried his baby around the pitch afterwards and Jackman had his young family in tow. Cheika looked beyond easy sound bytes.

“It’s hard to be positive,” he said. “There’s a lot of respect there. You know what I mean.

“I’m not going to go and say that’s great and have all that soppy stuff. There’s a lot of respect for the players. I’m proud of the team. They fought well even though they weren’t playing that well.

“Guys like Mal, Girv, who didn’t even get on the pitch, have got that respect win, lose or draw. It’s hard on the night to savour that. Maybe in time when we look back we’ll see the contribution those guys have made not just now but over 10, 15 years.”

Ospreys captain Ryan Jones cut to the chase.

“We talked about coming here being brave, being bold,” said the Welsh number eight. “We beat one of the best teams in Europe tonight.”

Cheika will not leave the Magners League Cup behind when he leaves Dublin.

But he has left a team culture.

Stade, as the Irish players kept repeating, have made a good choice.