Pulse-checking the Champions Cup final, UBB's glory, and Saints' rise
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Pulse-checking the Champions Cup final, UBB's glory, and Saints' rise
Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella to reflect on Bordeaux's victory over Northampton in last weekend's decider and what it all means for the future of the competition.
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RTÉ News
40 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
'Winning ugly' may serve Leinster better than blowouts
Hugo Keenan admits that Leinster won ugly against Scarlets but getting over the line in nervy contests may serve them better at the business end of the BKT URC. Just a couple of weeks ago, head coach Leo Cullen wondered about "some of these blowout games, I'm not sure what we necessarily have learned from a few of them". He was referring to the Champions Cup wins over Harlequins (62-0) and Glasgow Warriors (52-0) that did little in the way of preparing them for the dogfight that was coming down the line against Northampton in the semi-final. The 76-5 victory over Zebre a week later was of similar worth in the long run. So Cullen will be able to take some solace from the fact that Leinster were able to prevail in tighter affairs against the Warriors two weeks ago and the Scarlets, 33-21, on Saturday. URC half-time: Leinster 15-14 Scarlets - Scarlets go the length of the field at the end of the first half. Updates: LIVE: — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 31, 2025 Captain Jack Conan called the performance "inaccurate" and said they "just forced things a little bit of over-eagerness." Full-back Keenan, named player of the match, said: "It's all about getting the job done, getting the win. "It wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect, we were ill-disciplined and a little bit scrappy, especially in that first half. "That's sometimes what it's about, winning ugly a little bit." Leinster led by just a point at the break but grabbed two tries in the third quarter to stay out of reach of Dwayne Peel's side, who had won their regular season tie at the end of April. "There was a heavy downpour at the start of the second half and we had to manage the game a bit better," added the Ireland full-back (below), who scored the fourth try. "Jamo [Gibson-Park] and Sam [Prendergast] and the lads put us in the right positions and kept them at arm's length, which was important," "In these knockout games, you can't really be taking high risks and playing rugby all the time." RTÉ Rugby analysts Jamie Heaslip and Donncha O'Callaghan were unimpressed by the Leinster showing, which sets them up for a semi-final meeting with defending champions Glasgow this Saturday (2.45pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player). Heaslip called it "lacklustre"; while "rudderless was O'Callaghan's verdict. Hooker Dan Sheehan was asked about how the squad was dealing with the fall-out from the Saints defeat. "It's been up and down but I think we've done a good job of sticking together, trying to block out as much outside noise as possible," said the Ireland front row, who will go on the Lions tour. "I think mentally we're in a good spot, we're looking after each other well and I think that's all we can do. "We'll rip into our prep now for Glasgow during the week and go again." The Scottish side have lost nine of their last 11 games against Leinster, including both games this season. Head coach Franco Smith believes his team, who impressed in the 36-18 win over Stormers on Friday, are better set for another swing at Leinster. "You must put the Leinster games in perspective," he said. "The first one, we were in the middle of the season, there were a lot of injuries in that period. There were so many out at that certain stage. "The expectation [on Leinster] was massive because they hadn't played their top team since the Six Nations. "Everything worked for them. Nothing went well [for us]. "If that happens with Leinster, they could put international teams away like that. That's what we took from that. "The next time, we were more ready for the challenge. Hopefully that will help us this time."
Irish Examiner
42 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Leo Cullen: 'It's knockout rugby, what matters is getting through'
URC: Leinster 33 Scarlets 21 Alone they stand of Ireland's four provinces, again, and yet this URC quarter-final defeat of an honest but limited Scarlets side only heightened the suspicion that something is just not clicking for Leinster this season. Leo Cullen was happy to have 'won ugly' by the end of a game that they won by four tries to three and a dozen points against a side that played 20 second-half minutes with 14 men, but this won't do again. Not nearly. Keep playing like this and either Glasgow Warriors or one of the two South African sides in the other semi-final will do for them before this playoff run is out and it will be a fourth year on the trot without a trophy to decorate their efforts. Leinster had 65% possession and 70% territory on Saturday and they still couldn't shake off their Welsh opponents at any stage – this despite a whirlwind start that had them 12-0 to the good after just ten minutes. The perception abroad is that the men in blue are gettable. Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel inferred as much afterwards when he spoke about how they felt a screw could be turned if they just hung in there long enough. Mental concerns may well be feeding into the mechanics. The much-vaunted Jacques Nienaber blitz defence was shredded by Northampton Saints in that Champions Cup semi-final and Scarlets highlighted areas of concern again here. Leinster had to make only one-third as many tackles as Scarlets but they succeeded with only 65% of them. The evidence was apparent to the naked eye in the ease with which space and two scores were found for the first and third Scarlets tries. The theory goes that Leinster's dominance through the regular season might be working against them when push comes to shove and they are untested in terms of arm wrestles and jeopardy come the knockout stages. Cullen seems to buy into that. He picked out their last two league ties, against Zebre and Glasgow, when they had little or nothing to play for and compared it to the 'cup rugby' that Scarlets had been playing long before this quarter-final. 'Sometimes that creates a little bit of bad habits when you play games like that,' he said. Whatever about the vibes inside the dressing-room and on the field, the atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday spoke for the sense of drift that has enveloped the province with less than 13,000 punters paying in. The loss to the Saints has clearly fed into that, so did the Bank Holiday. Cullen also posited how supporters still need to get their heads, and their calendars, around a season that now stretches so far into June. Added into this is the fact that, regardless of concerns over the team's efforts, the expectation was that they would breeze past the Scarlets, that there would be another, bigger, day to tempt people to open their wallets. Cullen is mindful of all that, too, but he understands the need to rally the troops. 'It shouldn't be a drudge,' he said in trying to generate excitement for the semi-final to come and highlighting the danger posed by Glasgow. That said, he is not using a subdued crowd as reason for any struggles. 'No, no, no no. I don't want to use that at all. We played here in front of empty stadiums in Covid and I would much rather have what we had there [on Saturday]. In no way am I giving out here, in no way… 'We'll just keep beating the drum. We are asking supporters to come out here again next Saturday. It is short. We had a two-week lead-in and this is one week so it is more challenging again.' Glasgow are, lest we forget, reigning URC champions and they did it by beating Munster in Limerick in the last four and then overcoming the Bulls in Pretoria. Leinster beat them 52-0 in the last eight of Europe but only 13-5 in the URC earlier this month. The Irish province is still capable of routing an opponent, but liberal seeds of doubt have been sown deep into their psyche in recent weeks and if that Scarlets team can push them so close then Glasgow, Bulls and Sharks will be sniffing blood. 'It's a knockout game so what matters is just getting through,' said Cullen. 'People tend not to remember the detail as in what actually happens in these games. We just need to go through.' Leinster: H Keenan; J O'Brien, J Osborne, J Barrett, J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson; J McCarthy, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, J Conan. Replacements: S Penny for van der Flier (29); D Sheehan for Kelleher and RG Snyman for Ryan (both 46); R Slimani for Clarkson (58); L McGrath for Gibson-Park and J Boyle for Porter (both 66); M Deegan for Conan (68) and Snyman (74); C Frawley for Keenan (75). Scarlets: B Murray; T Rogers, J Roberts, J Williams, E Mee; S Costelow, A Hughes; A Hepburn, R Elias, H Thomas; A Craig, S Lousi; V Fifita, J Macleod, T Plumtree. Replacements: M van der Merwe for Elias (51); K Mathias for Craig (58); I Lloyd for Costelow (59); M Page for Rogers and S Wainwright for Thomas (both 65); J Taylor for Hepburn (67); D Davis for Macleod and E Jones for Hughes (both 75). Referee: H Davidson (SRU).
Irish Daily Mirror
16 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster's Leo Cullen on Sam Prendergast's performance against Scarlets
Leinster boss Leo Cullen was quick to jump to Sam Prendergast's defence following his side's URC quarter-final win over Scarlets. Ireland's Six Nations' out-half has been attracting lots of attention recently and was the subject of stinging criticism about his defence from former Ireland star Shane Horgan in the wake of the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to such as former England out-half Stuart Barnes, praised the Leinster star's ability to attack, to be exciting, and that there was a decade or more of brilliance coming down the the same time and most likely down to that performance against Northampton, Prendergast missed out on Lions squad selection and while Leinster won on Saturday, he was once again down for some flak - and it wasn't about his with his side 15-7 up and three metres from the Scarlets line on the verge of half-time, he fluffed a pass directing it backwards and behind his own defence and from where Scarlets raced down the field and scored. 15-7 became a tricky 15-14.'Sam is a young player and he had some unbelievable moments in the game today and that's not to hype somebody up to the point where we're unrealistic in our expectations," said Cullen."There were probably a couple of penalties there, a number of Scarlet's players offside, no clear release and one of the breakdowns, and then they go the length of the field and score, which is potentially a 14-point swing at half-time.'So you have a young player, just gone 22 recently, and we need to support these guys coming through the system in Leinster, and there's patience and being realistic about what young men can do.'And for us it's just we want to try and nurture talents and most of the guys come through the system here, a few guys add as well, like Jordie Barrett, a big influence, having the likes of RG Snyman coming off the bench. Rabah Slimani, the experience he has as well.'But for the most part it's guys that come through, Academy players that have progressed through the senior team."Still, Leinster had negotiated the hurdle, there was no disastrous Cullen: 'It's great to be still playing knockout rugby at this stage of the season."We've talked about this, it's week by week now. Glasgow and ourselves have had a good look at each other over the last number of weeks, so we know each other pretty well."We will just build a plan now for next week and recover well. We're into June rugby, the season goes on.'The big thing for us is support and genuine excitement. It shouldn't be a drudge, it should be like 'This is amazing, we are in a semi-final, we are getting ready, we are playing the current reigning champions."What we know is that they're kicking the ball quite a bit, even at the end, pinning us back in our end, and I think Glasgow will be doing something similar next week as well."Moreover Glasgow are facing a similar challenge to the one they encountered last season."Last year they won a home quarter-final and came away to Munster to win an away semi-final before they went to South Africa to win an away final.'If you're putting yourself in Glasgow's shoes, what are they like? They're relishing the opportunity to come here but we need to be relishing the opportunity of playing in front of our home fans.'I's great to be in a semi-final again but we take nothing for granted.'We have already lost a semi-final. Everyone was, supporters, staff, trying to look too far ahead so it was a real harsh lesson for us but learning from that and we are excited now.'We know it's going to be hard. We're up against the URC champions who came to Ireland last year to win their semi-final. Hopefully it'll be a great contest."Josh van der Flier is unlikely to make it back for next weekend, there is more likely going to be a precautionary rest not least as Scott Penny did so well when he came Conan and RG Snyman will be ice-packed and stitched up and ready to go, Tadhg Furlong is back training fully while Garry Ringrose may make the picture. Robbie Henshaw is not expected to play again this season but will be moving straight to the Lions in the aftermath. "It looked like it was Josh's hammy," said Cullen of van der Flier's injury, "that's the report, he felt a bit of tightness again, he was struggling to run it off so whether that's back-driven or neuro I don't know."Obviously Scott came in there so the six-two bench worked for us there as Scott was a natural no7 coming off the bench. Scott was good, brought good energy."You are always nervous during the warm up, 'hope one of these backs doesn't go down and cause some complications...".There was also a nod to the attendance, 12,789, which would seem quite low for a URC quarter-final albeit this was a Bank Holiday weekend."Hopefully we have support to come out again in the semi-final and I know we ask a lot of supporters over the course of the season but let's make it a special occasion, a semi-final, let's be better than we were in the last semi-final.'That's our job as coaches, making sure we have a good plan there this week but be genuinely excited by the challenge of it."
