But Racing 92's hopes of a first European Cup now rest in the hands of French out-half Remi Tales.

The Racing back-up took the place of Dan Carter - the victim of a hamstring injury - on the bench just before kick-off.

Then, first-choice out-half Pat Lambie went down with a knee injury inside three minutes of the game against Leinster, hit in an innocuous tackle by Rob Kearney and Johnny Sexton.

Lambie was also the designated place-kicker, after scrum-half Maxime Machenaud was ruled out through injury in recent weeks, and was consoled by former Ireland international Donnacha Ryan as he left the field.

However, Racing will have to do without their first-choice out-half-scrum-half combination, as well as their two-time World Cup winning back-up.

Losing Machenaud two weeks back, Carter before kickoff and Lambie two minutes in - did Racing build the U-Arena on an Indian burial ground? #LEIvR92

— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) May 12, 2018

Remi Tales’ day so far:

- Not named in 23 man match day squad
- Named on the bench as Carter ruled out two hours before kick off
- Comes on at 10 after 3 minutes after Lambie goes off injured

Talk about being dragged in out of the cold 😅#LEIR92 #Bilbao2018 pic.twitter.com/8F6hM2r17V

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) May 12, 2018

Still, scrum-half Teddy Iribaren nailed an early penalty to give the French underdogs a 3-0 lead.