Toulouse handed Leinster another Champions Cup final defeat with a thrilling 31-22 extra-time victory over the Irish province to cement their dominance of European club rugby for a sixth time.

For Leinster, the agonising defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London extended their losing streak in the Champions Cup to three successive finals, following back-to-back defeats at the hands of another French club, La Rochelle.

Superb defence was the key to Toulouse's victory, which avenged semi-final defeats to Leinster in 2022 and 2023. Neither team scored a try in the 80 minutes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which ended 15-15 after five penalties apiece, underlining the parity of the game and the defensive nature of the final.

The clash between these two European giants, the two most decorated sides in the competition, has long been dismissed as a battle of kickers.

It was Leinster who had the better of the chances in normal time, although Toulouse struck early in the first 10 minutes of extra time through a try from wing Matthis Lebel. Though they had to play the better part of the extra 20 minutes a man down after Richie Arnold's sin-binning, before penalties from replacement Thomas Ramos proved decisive.

"It's amazing to win with this team," Toulouse captain and player of the match Antoine Dupont told ITV 4. "We really wanted to win the sixth star after losing to Leinster the last two years," added the French scrum-half.

For his part, Toulouse winger Matthis Lebel said: "When you have worked together for a long time to win something like this, it brings out a lot of emotions," Lebel said after Toulouse's first Champions Cup final win since 2021. "Everyone stayed focused on this goal despite the disappointment of the World Cup."

Leinster boss Leo Cullen admitted: "We had plenty of chances... We're devastated we couldn't get over the line." Leinster wing James Lowe had just been yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on and the Dubliners were effectively two men down, with replacement Ciaran Frawley injured, when Lebel sprinted over for the game's first try.

Ramos converted and then added a penalty to make it 25-15.

But in a twist of fate, Arnold was shown a red card by England referee Matthew Carley in the 89th minute for an illegal clear-out on Cian Healy.

Leinster eventually scored a try when Josh van der Flier burrowed over from close range, although it took a lengthy television review to confirm the grounding.

Frawley converted to bring Leinster to within three points at 22-25 at the end of the first half of extra time.

But Ramos kicked two more penalties to put Toulouse nine points clear.

Earlier, Toulouse full-back Blair Kinghorn and Leinster fly-half Ross Byrne had kicked four penalties apiece before Ramos' long-range effort put the Top 14 side three points clear in the 70th minute.

Four-time European champions Leinster levelled through a penalty from Frawley, who then missed a last-minute drop goal that could have won the game.

"I'm absolutely exhausted, the boys put in a hell of a shift," said Kinghorn. "It's unbelievable, I'm at a loss for words. The boys dug in so deep and that second half of extra time was huge for us." Saturday's game marked the first time that the European heavyweights have met in a Champions Cup final.

Toulouse are the most decorated club in the history of the competition and this is their sixth Champions Cup title, having won it in 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2021, and they have a huge lead over their opponents, who have only won it four times.