Ian Madigan: Leinster better placed than Toulouse ahead of Champions Cup final

Ian Madigan believes that Leinster can beat Toulouse and claim a fifth Investec Champions Cup title and says the battle of the half-backs will have a huge bearing on the outcome.

Madigan won two Heineken Cups with Leinster in 2011 and 2012 and earned 31 Ireland caps before calling time on his career last year after spells with Bordeaux, Bristol and Ulster.

Ahead of Saturday's game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (2.45pm, live on RTÉ), he says that both teams have evolved since last season’s semi-final when Toulouse fell to a 41-22 loss in Dublin.

"I would much rather be in Leinster’s position having beaten the opposition in the previous two semi-finals than to be in Toulouse’s position looking at Leinster and thinking that maybe there’s a mental weakness there having lost two finals," the 35-year-old told RTÉ Sport.

"Leinster have beaten them well in the last two semi-finals, around 20 points and it’s the style of those wins.

"It wasn’t that Leinster pulled away in the last ten minutes, the games were well won at the 50-minute mark.

"Saying that, a lot changes within a season. Toulouse are playing better rugby but so are Leinster."

The former out-half says the battle of the half-backs will prove crucial in London.

Ireland internationals Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne go up against Les Bleus pair Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, at scrum-half and out-half, respectively.

"The key against Toulouse is you have to keep your foot on the gas and keep attacking," added the Dubliner, a Six Nations winner in 2014 and 2015.

"The two key guys are Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne. They’ve got to keep calling the ball on themselves and keep getting the ball in the right person’s hands.

"Toulouse aren’t a team you can contain and play a