'We were not ourselves' - Robbie Henshaw reflects on Leinster loss to Toulouse

Just over an hour after the final whistle blew on Leinster's latest failed Champions Cup bid, Robbie Henshaw's admitted that his side were "not ourselves".

Toulouse were crowned European champions for a record-extending sixth occasion after an epic 31-22 victory that required extra-time at the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

While the French outfit took their shots at goal to establish a foothold, Leinster tried to break through the line but were let down by sloppy handling and an excellent defensive display by Toulouse.

"It's a tough one to take," said the 30-year-old Ireland centre after Leinster's third final defeat in a row during which they conceded 15 penalties to Toulouse's 16.

"Hard to summarise it. It was a game that had everything. Probably, looking back we were a little bit, I don’t know, not ourselves in that first period.

"In that first half we had loads of chances and a few balls just didn’t go to hand whereas it usually would.

"It will be tough to look back on it and see where it was lost. We had loads of chances.

"We didn’t hit our full performance...and finish them off in attack.

"We let ourselves down a little bit around the ruck, the breakdown, they came hard there at us and that stopped the momentum at crucial times."

Incredibly loud, here we go! pic.twitter.com/MxXNaPznWK

The game was played in a deafening environment in front of 61,531 fans and Henshaw revealed that, at times, it was difficult to communicate on the pitch but rejected the suggestion the pressure of the two previous final defeats had a bearing.

"There wasn’t nerves," he told RTÉ Sport.

"The stadium was incredible. You literally couldn’t hear a thing out there at times. Sometimes that little breakdown in communication has an effect on a