Leinster failed to find their usual form

Leinster's Brian O'Driscoll admitted his team made too many mistakes and did not deserve to beat Perpignan in Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final.

The Irish province, with home advantage at Lansdowne Road, had been expected to go through to their first final.

But Perpignan ended their hopes with a 21-14 victory.

"We played very poorly and the best team won," said O'Driscoll, who had to go off injured in the second half.

"You cannot perform like that in a semi-final and expect to go through.

"There may have been a few nerves but we should have got over that in the first 10 minutes.

"We had a purple patch early in the second half but that was that.

"We made far too many unforced errors."

This is the culmination of years of hard work. It is a great stepping stone for the club Perpignan No 8 Phil Murphy

Coach Matt Williams described it as Leinster's worst performance of the season.

"This has been Leinster's best year," he said. "We have done well, but we should have been in the final.

"We did not win the ball at crucial times in the line-out.

"Their theory was to break us down but I have no complaints. Perpignan were full of determination and enthusiasm and they rattled us."

Perpignan fly-half Manny Edmonds, named man-of-the-match, praised his side's forwards, who were twice a man short after two yellow cards.

Match report: Leinster 14-21 Perpignan

"We have got a great forward pack and they proved it today even when they were a man down," Edmonds said.

"We will enjoy this win and hopefully the crowd might support us when we come back for the final."

The Catalans' Canadian No 8 Phil Murphy added: "This is the culmination of years of hard work. It is a great stepping stone for the club.

"The coach told us to have no regrets afterwards and to write a new page in the club's history, and we have certainly done that."