Leinster centre Brian O'Driscoll said that "inspirational" words from Jonathan Sexton helped them defeat Northampton in Cardiff.
Ireland star reveals fly-half's contribution both off the pitch and on
Leinster centre Brian O'Driscoll said that "inspirational" words from Jonathan Sexton helped them come from behind in stunning fashion in the Heineken Cup final against Northampton.
Having been 22-6 down at half-time in Cardiff, the Irish side proceeded to turn the match on its head as Sexton ran in two tries as they raced into the lead before the hour was up.
Nathan Hines then added another, with Sexton eventually scoring 28 points in what was a man of the match performance - both off the pitch and on according to O'Driscoll.
He told
Sky Sports 1: "We had some choice words at half-time. We knew if we could hold on to the ball we had them in trouble.
"There were some inspirational words from Jonathan at half-time which picked us up, he was a man possessed. He said this game would be remembered if we came back and we will remember this for a long time.
"We knew we had that (second-half display) in us. We played against a tough opposition but we knew if we held on to the ball we knew we could create chances."
Even so, O'Driscoll was at a loss to explain how his men had been so poor during the first half, during which Northampton scored three tries as their opponents made handling errors and wilted in the scrum.
"We coughed up so much ball, but that was the difference. In the second half we held on to it and the passes stuck as well," he said.
Matchwinner Sexton, who fell just two points short of Diego Dominguez's record for a Heineken final, refused to take too much credit for his half-time team talk, but said: "We were shellshocked and we needed half-time. We regrouped.
"I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to sport and I said that we see in sport that teams can come back like Liverpool [in the 2005 Champions League final] a few years ago. Stuff like this happens. We had to believe and we took our chances."
Leinster boss Joe Schmidt hailed his side's turnaround and credited scrum coach Greg Feek, the former New Zealand prop, with masterminding the set-piece transformation in the second period.
"The realisation at half-time was that we had worked for nine months and we had given it away," said Schmidt.
"Northampton are a very good team and they took every bit of advantage. We felt we hadn't really played, hadn't really looked after the ball.
"The comeback was down to a lot of resolve from the players who showed a heck of a lot of character.
"We talked about belief before the game, we talked about believing in ourselves and each other. I reiterated I still believed we could do it.
"And Jonny (Sexton) was quick to reiterate that. There was a big following of that.
"Feek got the forwards together and we ironed out the scrum. We locked them down really well in the second half.
"After that it was a case of holding the ball. I spoke about that, Jonny spoke about that.
"I knew we'd have to score first at half-time. Once that happened we sensed the momentum shift. The players did and the crowd did."
Fatigue
Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder said his side's fatigue after their Premiership semi-final loss at Leicester may have been a contributory factor in the loss.
Unlike the Saints, Leinster had been able to withdraw some key players during their more comfortable Magners League semi win over Ulster.
"We were tired, you could tell at half-time," he said.
"It was just a case of telling the lads to dig in for just 40 more minutes but the long season took its toll in the end.
"It was a full on game, it was very fast and credit to all the players involved."
Mallinder withdrew the likes of Soane Tonga'uhia and captain Dylan Hartley as his side trailed in the final quarter, and he said: "It was because they were exhausted.
"They were shot. It would have been nice not to have had a full-on game last week, and Leinster managed to take their five best players off in their game. We could not do that against Leicester.
"But we will come back stronger. We have always improved and we have said, in the huddle at the end, let's see if we can win it next time."
Northampton's Ben Foden said the feeling of dejection on the final whistle was "150% the worst I have felt after a game".
The England full-back added: "It is a bitter pill to swallow. We play this game to be in moments like this.
"This is the pinnacle of professional rugby at club level, to get to our Champions League final and going in at half time 22-6 up, we had one foot through the door.
"But no final is won in 40 minutes. They blew us away in that 15 minutes after half-time. They were crowned European champions for a reason, they played tremendously well all season.
"For a neutral it would have been a tremendous spectacle to watch, a hell of a final, but when you are on the wrong end of the result it always stings no matter how you have lost.
"We are a young team and these moments bring us together."
