Will you be supporting Leinster in the URC final this weekend?
'EVERYONE LOVES TO hate Leinster,' according to the province's second-row Joe McCarthy, who was speaking after the club's semi-final victory over Glasgow last week.
After a string of trophyless seasons, Ireland's most successful rugby club has come in for a fair share of criticism from fans, but there has also been plenty of shadenfreude from rugby fans outside of the 12 counties.
Munster and Ireland legend Donal Lenihan disagrees though.
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'I think saying everybody hates Leinster is a little bit over the top,' he told RTÉ.
'I think this boils down to the quality of the Leinster squad and what they've achieved over the past 4 years.'
This Saturday, Leinster will face off against the Bulls from South Africa at Croke Park in the final of the United Rugby Championship.
Both clubs all looking to win their first URC title since the competition was revamped in 2021.
So, today we want to know:
Will you be supporting Leinster in the URC final this weekend?
Poll Results:
Yes, I'm a Leinster supporter
(446)
Yes, and I'm not from Leinster
(212)
No, and I never will
(144)
No, I'm not interested
(113)
Yes, I'm a Leinster supporter
Yes, and I'm not from Leinster
No, and I never will
No, I'm not interested
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The Irish Sun
37 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Leo Cullen in rare show of anger as he snaps at media questions ahead of Leinster's URC final vs Bulls
LEO CULLEN has insisted that Leinster do not deserve to be branded as failures if they are beaten tomorrow. If the province do not 2 Cullen has shipped criticism since their Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton 2 Tomorrow will be Jordie Barrett's last game for the Blues During that time, they have lost three finals and one semi-final in the Champions Cup and three semi-finals in the URC, twice when they had finished top of the standings in the regular season. They topped the pile again this time around and Cullen does not believe his charges deserve to be automatically dismissed if they cannot get over the line again. He said: 'They're all individual games. Every play-off game is a final as such. We have played in lots, whether they come in a quarter-final, semi-final or final. 'The group is learning all the time, young players come through, you are adding layers of experience. Read More On Irish Sport 'I think the way some of the questions are leading me, it's like, 'Whoever loses is a failure'. In this game there are two good teams going at it. If you lose in a final, are you classified as a failure? 'You can play your best game in the final. So both of these teams could play their best games of the season but unfortunately one of the teams has to lose. 'So one of the teams, who has just played their best game, they are classified as losers because they have lost but are they failures? "You are guaranteed nothing. So you have to prepare the best you can with the time you have to put in your best performance. Most read in Rugby Union 'I hope the group goes out and does itself justice. It's on the day.' Many in the squad have never lifted a trophy with Leinster while even more have never done so in front of a crowd, with their last two PRO14 titles coming during the Covid-19 pandemic when restrictions were in place. 'Pierre loving retirement' - Peter O'Mahony's wife teases Ireland legend as kids run amok in cute snap But Cullen does not want his players to get sidetracked by the prospect of doing so this weekend. He added: 'Unfortunately, the reality is once you get closer to something, that's what people tend to look at and they can quite often trip themselves up. 'So making sure we focus on playing well, because that's the bit we can control . . . the outcome and some of the other variables, we can't control. Bulls will test us in lots of different ways.' But the former lock did admit that Leinster's recent tale of woe and anything else that is thrown into the mix could help in terms of adding a bit more intent to their game-plan. He said: 'Bulls, we played in the semi-final last year and lost, had to travel down to Pretoria and try to deal with some of those challenges. 'They look like they've got here OK, so, from our point of view, does it give us a slight advantage, an extra day? Then again, they've had that time together, a chance to build a bit of a siege mentality. 'Lads have trained well this week, put a good plan together, but now we've got to deliver it. 'We trained out there in very difficult conditions. If conditions are like that at the weekend, we need to make sure we are able to adapt.' CAVALRY CHARGE Leinster have been boosted by Ross Byrne is on the bench for what is his last game before he joins Gloucester but Cullen said: 'Cian, you think what he has done and achieved with the club, the contribution he made to Leinster rugby, that was probably the most difficult.' LEINSTER: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Ringrose, Barrett, Lowe; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Clarkson; McCarthy, Ryan; Baird, van der Flier, Conan. Reps: Kelleher, Boyle, Slimani, Snyman, Deegan, McGrath, Byrne, Osborne.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
'If you lose a final are you a failure?' - Cullen's bigger picture approach to URC decider
LEO CULLEN BECAME increasingly animated as he pre-URC final press conference stretched toward the half hour mark in Croke Park yesterday. He met the initial questions with a familiar hand-off, twisting an opening query about the return of Lions-bound pair Josh van der Flier and Garry Ringrose toward his own excitement for tomorrow's showdown with the Bulls in Drumcondra [KO 5pm, TG4/Premier Sports/URC TV]. Responding to a question about the fitness of Hugo Keenan and Tadhg Furlong, who both miss out, Cullen named-checked Thomas Clarkson, Rabah Slimani, Jimmy O'Brien, Jack Boyle, Andrew Porter and Cian Healy, without shedding any further light on the two Ireland internationals. It was only when the conversation wandered toward the bigger picture stuff that Cullen really came to life. The Leinster boss was asked what the province had taken on board from the various defeats in finals and knock-out games over the last few seasons, and how much those experiences will inform the approach this time around. 'They're all individual games,' he replied. 'Every play-off game is a final as such, so we have played in lots of play-off games, whether they come in a quarter-final, semi-final or final. The group is learning all the time, young players come through and you are adding layers of experience. 'I think the way some of the questions are leading me it's like, whoever loses is a failure in this game. So, they are two good teams going at it. If you lose in a final are you classified as a failure? 'You can play your best game in the final. So both of these teams could play their best games of the season but unfortunately one of the teams has to lose. So has one of the teams, who has just played their best game, are they classified… They are classified as losers because they have lost (laughs) but are they failures? Advertisement 'You have really good teams going at it but you are guaranteed nothing. So you have to prepare the best you can with the time you have available to put in your best performance. I hope the group goes out and does itself justice because they're going out in front of so many of their friends, family, loved ones, supporters, people that turn up in the most random places during the course of a season to see us play.' Cullen spoke to the media in Croke Park. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Cullen was now in full flow and continued his answer to draw back memories of his first final win, a 2001 Celtic League defeat of Munster at Lansdowne Road. 'I remember literally when Eric Miller kicked Anthony Foley in the balls, going back to discipline, and thinking to myself, 'Oh, we're just a bit of trouble here!'' Near the end of the session, a question about the value Jordie Barrett has added to the group behind the scenes led to Cullen diving into the playing resources of Ireland and South Africa. 'You're always looking to the group. At the end of the day, things people talk about, like resources and all of that, we're producing players. You go to South Africa, they're a people of what, 64 million people? We're a country of how many people? 8 million? Where does rugby sit in terms of sport? Fourth. In South Africa it's number one. 'In terms of the rugby-playing population, what would they have? 12 times the amount of players we have registered maybe? 15? We're a drop in the ocean in terms of what we're up against. 'When we get the opportunity to bring in a player… Listen, it's fantastic to be able to do that. But it's off the back of all the support we actually get. It gets reinvested into the group ultimately because you can only bring so many players in because part of our job spec is to produce players to play for Ireland. 'We're very lucky to have Jordie. He has hopefully added in lots of different ways to the group because at the end of the day we're a tiny country in terms of playing population and we're up against a juggernaut team who we would have watched play Super Rugby and dismantle teams over the years, so we know we're in for a serious bloody challenge.' A follow-up question extended the Barrett point to include RG Snyman, Rabah Slimani, and Leinster-bound Rieko Ioane, leading to Cullen referencing the two team sheets in front him, focusing on the list of Bulls names. 'I feel like I'm distracted from the Bulls now,' he admitted. Leinster trained in Croke Park on Thursday afternoon. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO 'Look through their team, there's a tonne of experience. I know Jake (White, Bulls head coach) was saying they're a young squad. I'm not sure what squad he's talking about, that's not a young group, that's not a young team. He was talking about that on Tuesday. Is he trying to lull us all into some false sense is he? A young group? Do you see a young group there? They're a serious experienced group we're up against and a team that has unbelievably high standards, that is used to winning, it's in their blood isn't it? 'Rugby, you're in South Africa and it's on morning, noon and night.' At that point a South African member of the media informed Cullen rugby might sit behind football in terms of popularity. 'Ah go away, will you?' Cullen laughed. 'Go away. Now you're not telling the truth, I know you're not telling the truth.' And with that he was off, closing a somewhat light yet occasionally tetchy half hour in the bowels of Croke Park.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Passionate Jake White commendation reveals Bulls' URC buy-in
South African rugby is buying in, and Jake White's Bulls are all in. After eschewing Super Rugby to switch hemispheres in 2021, the big four franchises are bringing the crowd with them. The BKT United Rugby Championship is their direct replacement for Super Rugby, a tournament which the Pretorians won three times. South African sides have made up five of the compeition's eight finalists in the last four seasons. This means something. The URC is where "you're seeing the best players in the world" reckoned the always engaging 61-year-old when he addressed reporters at Croke Park yesterday ahead of Saturday's Grand Final against Leinster. The Champions Cup? Well, that's nice too. White's heartfelt and enthusiastic commendation contrasts with Leinster's laboured praise for their second-best friend. Earlier this week, Dan Sheehan insisted there was "absolutely no way" Leinster would be beaten in the hunger stakes and players aren't really expected to say anything different. "If you reach a final, everyone is desperate to win; let's be fair," said White, whose side finished the regular season in second place behind Leinster. "No one sits in a final and says we are not desperate or as desperate as the other team... it would be naïve." White is a World Cup-winning coach, with the Springboks in 2007, and has plied his trade in Australia, with the Brumbies, who he took to the Super Rugby final in 2013. He spent three years in both France, with Montpellier, and Japan. White has been around the world and his thoughts on the URC are worth reading, especially when asked to compare it to the Bulls' former home. "Well, let me say this, one of the things which is interesting, and I've been around a long, long time, is that [the fans] didn't buy into Super Rugby when they joined it either," he said. "They didn't understand it. They didn't know who the guys from Waikato were and the guys from Otago and then as time went on they got a better feel for how Super Rugby worked. "And in the URC, I would still be honest and say they're still not sure how it all fits in because when we play Saracens they say 'is it a URC game?' and the same when we play Northampton. "But I think, over time, they now realise it's actually a phenomenal tournament and you're seeing the best players in the world. "I mean, it's no different from what happened when Super Rugby started to take off. "They realised you could see Christian Cullen playing for the Hurricanes and you can see Jonah Lomu playing for Auckland." Ahead of tomorrow's decider, White, whose side have lost two of the last three finals, said so great is "rugby fever" in the Rainbow Nation that they will receive support from erstwhile rivals. "I mean let's be fair, we're playing Ireland tomorrow," he said. "They just happen to have a different colour jersey on Saturday but we're playing Ireland and that's probably why South Africa have tuned in, because they know these players as Irish internationals. "I've got some messages from back home, people are supporting the Bulls. "People in Cape Town are supporting the Bulls. People in Durban are supporting the Bulls and think about it, that's like Munster supporting Leinster tomorrow against the Bulls. "That's just what happens when rugby fever is high. But they've bought into it and it's no different from how it happened in Super Rugby." White was also asked about lock Joe McCarthy's assertion last weekend that "everyone loves to hate Leinster". Is that the same in South Africa? "Nah, nah, everyone's in awe of Leinster," he said. "Just read that team, from Andrew Porter, and go through the list. I mean, it just gets better as you're reading it, the team is full of stars. "I think what, what [Joe McCarthy] says there, it's exactly what top players do say, is that they need to find a way to be better, and they need to find the 'why' of why they want to win. "And what he was right [to say] 'they don't like us', doesn't matter, as long as we understand what we need to do. "So, we're the same, we're not the most loved team in the world either. "Let's be fair, the Bulls wouldn't win too many popularity awards if you went around either but it doesn't matter. "The reality is we've got a job to do, as Leinster have got a job to do tomorrow, and it's got nothing to do with who likes who and who doesn't like who. "Whoever plays well tomorrow and whoever takes their chances is going to win the game."
