Rabah Slimani baffled by late referee's decision as Leinster crash out of Champions Cup in semi-final thriller
LEINSTER prop Rabah Slimani admitted there was confusion in the home dressing room after a potential match-winning try in the closing stages was chalked off.
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Ross Byrne of Leinster touches the ball down on the try line in the last play of the game during the Champions Cup semi-final - but the score was ruled out by the officials
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Rabah Slimani of Leinster admits that he was left baffled by the decision not to award the score
But it wasn't without controversy after referee Pierre Brousset chose not to award the score after replacement Ross Byrne appeared to ground the ball in the corner.
It is suspected that Byrne may have been penalised for playing the ball illegally off his legs, but no clear explanation was given through the officials' microphones.
Leinster were instead awarded a penalty before Northampton's Alex Coles was shown a yellow card.
And Leinster's Slimani was left baffled by the decision as he questioned Brousset's decision.
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The prop said: 'I don't know, I don't know.
'I don't understand the decision because if it's a penalty and a yellow card, I don't know why it's not a try but that's the ref's decision.
"He has his opinion but it's hard.'
The France international praised the team's effort but admitted the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow.
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He added: 'We lost some focus in defence but we never stopped the effort during the second-half and we were very close at the end. It's very hard for the team but that's the reality.
'No, I could not feel that. Last year the semi-final against Northampton was very close and today too.
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"I think it's normal that we were a little bit nervous. We didn't make a good start, they scored a lot of points. We lost by three points, that's very disappointing.'
And Slimani insisted that the Dublin-based side must bounce back.
He concluded: 'The season is not finished and we have the opportunity to win something, the URC this year.
"It's been a long time since Leinster won something and I think we need to stay focused on the URC now. It's not pressure, but now we have just one target.
"We are disappointed not to make the Champions Cup final but now the target is the URC. We have had a very good season in the URC, we need to continue that.'
Leinster face Zebre and Glasgow before the URC playoffs.
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