The five-time champions went down 41-22 to the Irish province in Saturday’s semi-final and were punished when full-back Thomas Ramos and replacement prop Rodrigue Neti were sin-binned in either half in Dublin.

Mola admitted that Toulouse endured similar struggles to their semi-final defeat at Leinster last season, with the two yellow cards making their task all the more difficult.

“Yes, it is a bitter spill to swallow,” he said. “We were not disciplined at all. Having the ball, we could have hurt them but they scored the points very easily and when you do that it is difficult, and we were trying hard to make some tries.

“It is not the same score, the score has grown, and we haven’t fully learned the lessons of last year, but we had two yellow cards, and we paid the price for it.

“We waged a battle, but we were not precise and accurate enough in the deciding moments.

“That’s why we have some questions about that match. If we had played 15 against 15 it may have been different, but Leinster put us in that corner.

“Thomas’ error is severe, and Rodrigue’s error is serious and we paid the price for that. It’s a bit disappointing but we have a long way to go in order to put Leinster in a bad patch.”

Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont, the 2021 EPCR Player of the Year and a nominee again this year, believes there was an improvement on last year’s display but accepted that Leinster were the far superior side on the day.

“Collectively we were under pressure, we managed to break some lines and attack them, but they defend very well, and they do not concede tries even though they are dominated,” he said.

“In the weak moments they don’t concede and when they have a lead on the scoreboard it is very different to talk about strategy especially with that final scoreline.

“I felt a difference from last year even with a similar scoreline. We got a good start, scored a try and we were lacking some discipline but after the first yellow we recovered well, we were physically fit and we broke their lines, but we thought we could be dangerous and score.

“Last year was different but once again, when you get two yellow cards, when you give away some points, it is very difficult to argue.

“You can’t talk about the referee or the strategy when you concede 40 points. There is nothing to add.”

Stade Toulousain head coach Ugo Mola admitted that his side’s chances of progressing to the Heineken Champions Cup final were hindered by disciplinary issues against Leinster Rugby.