Bryan Habana© AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND LANGLOIS

Monday Maul on Toulon's ability to win when playing badly, the incredible Maro Itoje and why Saracens and Leinster can hold their heads high.

Jamie Heaslip compared Toulon to Real Madrid in the week but perhaps they are better aligned with the Manchester United side of the middle 90s when Sir Alex Ferguson's team on occasions had to grind out wins which masked a poor performance. The latter half of their 1995-96 campaign saw a torrent of 1-0 nervy triumphs with Eric Cantona's name inevitably next to the second-half goal with the Frenchman playing the cliché of being a big-name player delivering on the big stage.

The mark of a great rugby side is one who is left smiling at the full-time despite having endured numerous errors and setbacks. Leinster, for all their heart and application, were left grasping at thin, damp air as Bryan Habana ran in for what proved to be the match-winning try. He had been quiet for most of the game and his main involvement prior to that moment was to be caught in the air by Fergus McFadden's shoulder. But then, despite having played 90 minutes of rugby first in monsoon conditions and then in a calmer environment, Habana saw a loose miss-pass from Ian Madigan and snaffled it up to go the distance. Years of experience went into that one moment.

And then there was Leigh Halfpenny, the man who was on the receiving end of a Mourad Boudjellal side-swipe early in the season when he mentioned the Welsh fullback's contract was under scrutiny due to his continuing groin problems. But post-match he stood exhausted and minus a tooth to collect the Man of the Match award after his 20 points from the boot helped Toulon home.

Toulon are now in their third-straight European final and are eyeing an unprecedented hat-trick, but in a match littered with knock-ons, scrums and fluffed lineouts and lines, there can be no complacency or basking in the win. This was not the finest performance we have seen from Toulon as one of their former number posted on Twitter.

Matt O'Connor's assessment was to label Toulon "the best club side ever put together" and if they win on May 2 against Clermont, it is a fair accolade. They will have reached an as yet unscaled peak of rugby immortality with three titles to their name.

But for all the inevitable talk of Habana's try and Halfpenny's boot, every team needs the heroes at the coal face. When referring to Toulon, they are not your everyman players - Chris Masoe hardly falls into that category - but when surrounded by superstars, the mere stars shine a little dimmer.

It was a ferocious battle in the back-row against Leinster. Leinster's trio of Jordi Murphy, Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip played out of their skin but the 20-cap All Black Masoe was exceptional in that area with his lieutenants Juan Fernandez Lobbe and Steffon Armitage working well in tandem, they helped force penalties and territory. The latter proved yet again his standing as an exceptional player, but whether that transpires into being an "exceptional circumstance" for England purposes is up to Stuart Lancaster.

But despite Boudjellal's Jose Mourinho-esque jig down the touchline when Habana scored, the inevitable smiles of relief and yet another final to look forward to, they want improvement. It's the mark of a good team.

"If we want to be contenders to win the European title, we will have to go back to the drawing board," Habana said. "As a team, we are going to have to look really hard at ourselves after that performance. Our discipline needs to be better and we can't afford to make as many errors."

Saracens right to focus on players nearer to home

Maro Itoje© AFP PHOTO / THIERRY ZOCCOLAN

It was another campaign for Saracens which saw them fall short of being champions, but Mark McCall is right not to immediately dip into their pot of funds to bring in a big-name player. Their pack contained five players aged 24 and under with Maro Itoje a monumental presence.

The young forward had never started a Champions Cup match before he was handed the No.6 shirt for Saturday's match in Saint-Etienne. But there was never any danger of Itoje letting down those who put faith in him. There was one wonderful moment where he out jumped Nick Abendanon to claim a high ball, turned and then flattened Clermont scrum-half Ludovic Radosavljevic.

He is a remarkable human being and player. We spoke in June prior to their Junior World Championship semi-final and the talk included African politics and poetry. Fast-forward to last month and Kelly Brown was joking that such was Itoje's record in finals - he captained England to the JWC last summer and Saracens to the LV=Cup this season - England should just give him the captaincy here and now. He is not your average rugby player.

Valiant in defeat

Both Saracens and Leinster lost at the semi-final hurdle but both deserve praise for the manner in which they played in their respective final four matches. For Leinster, Devin Toner put in a remarkable performance in the locks while their back-row were heroic. Saracens had Alex Goode in incredible form with the Vunipola brothers dovetailing wonderfully. The defeats will hurt but they can be used as foundations for the rest of this season and next.