Northampton had made a blistering start to the clash – that will be streamed this afternoon on ChampionsCupRugby.com at 17:45 (UK and Irish time) - and led 22-6 at the break in Cardiff thanks to tries from Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and Dylan Hartley.

That led to fly-half Sexton’s instrumental half-time team talk, citing Liverpool’s comeback in the 2005 Champions League final as inspiration for his side who looked down and out. However, the message was lost on Heaslip who admitted he isn’t much of a football fan.

“Northampton had a really good squad but we fancied our chances,” Heaslip said. “We’d had some really tough games already that season with Leicester and then Toulouse but we also had a tough group to get out of.

“We were playing well but making line breaks only to knock it on or give away a penalty so it was a bit frustrating for us.

“When we came in at half-time, we had the mindset that we haven’t played much rugby but when we have, we’ve made inroads so just hold onto the bloody thing and it will come.

“Johnny [Sexton] is always talking at half time so that wasn’t unusual! The first message was from Joe [Schmidt] and he said we didn’t have to change a lot.

“The backs were going off on one and it was Johnny leading the charge but the forwards were working on the set piece as we’d given away a couple of penalties.

“Johnny then chirps in with his infamous Liverpool and Steven Gerrard coming back in the Champions League final speech but it was a bit lost on me because I don’t really follow soccer!

“It was some good choice words. He said that we could do it and to believe in ourselves and to imagine how class it would be to do it because everyone has written us off and to come back from this.”

You can watch the Heineken Champions Cup Rewind of the 2011 final from 17:15 (UK and Irish time) on our live blog, with the match stream getting underway at 17:45.

Former Leinster Rugby No.8 Jamie Heaslip has revealed that Johnny Sexton’s infamous half-time team talk against Northampton Saints in the 2011 European Cup final was lost on him.