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23rd April 2019
02:16pm BST

"It's great to have Johnny back in the team, we haven't had him since the end of December," said Cullen. "Behind the scenes Johnny is always working hard to drive standards in the group and that's an amazing quality that he has; there's never an end point to it. "Even if there's things we think we can do well, he'll find other things we can get better at. That's what we need as a group. "We know we have to be very, very good because at this stage of the competition all the teams are heavily loaded, heavily resourced and everyone is gearing up to trying to win on the big days, to play well on the big days. "The standard Johnny sets for himself is exceptional and I think it rubs off on everyone else."Sexton's performance on Sunday wasn't exactly 2011 'I'm going to take over or we're goosed here' Heineken Cup final level but he effectively pulled the strings and it's the timing of his passes that really sets him apart from most other fly-halves.
There might be some questions marks on this delivery over whether that ball is flat or forward but it's the right option regardless and it's the one line here that sees Leinster turn what should be a tackle at the gain line into a 10 metre run.
Leinster get quick ball, reload and on the very next phase Sexton hits Jack Conan for another gain and all of a sudden the hosts are driving their way forward towards the 22.
Conan eventually offloads the ball to Luke McGrath after he's hauled down by François Cros but you can notice Sexton immediately accelerate and look for the return ball in a great show of support play.
The next phase after Conan's carry, Leinster are awarded a penalty for not releasing the ball carrier and Sexton converts to put the defending champions 15 points clear and effectively finish the game off as a contest.
Earlier in the half we can again see Sexton's influence on Leinster's attack. The Blues don't do anything spectacular here but the alignment is perfect on both phases, and although they really only make about 12 metres from the scrum, they're stretching Toulouse constantly and because of this we begin to see the type of holes develop that were earlier demonstrated where players start to make incorrect reads and mistakes.
The problem for Leinster is that they're facing a Saracens team in the final that mirrors them in a lot of ways. Saracens have a pack with five Lions players, a world-class fly-half, a strong centre pairing and quick outside backs that can finish.
Although they were decimated in Dublin last year, it's hard to see the same sort of game developing given just how much they ran up the scoreboard against both Munster and Glasgow in the previous rounds.
The final should be a cracker if both teams show up as these really are the two best teams in Europe and arguably they have been the two finest clubs of the last decade. No better finale.
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