Leinster wrap up dominant URC season with fitting final performance
THOMAS CLARKSON'S SCRUM penalties. Ryan Baird's hit on Marcell Coetzee. Luke McGrath's dink in behind. Jordie Barrett's volley.
The 18-phase defensive grandstand. The 14-phase grandstand.
Sam Prendergast's 50:22. Jack Conan's barrelling finish. Josh van der Flier's surge. Ross Byrne's delayed pass. Fintan Gunne's speed.
There were moments aplenty for Leinster fans to thrill in and to savour.
The tendency with Leinster is always to look at the bigger picture. And that bigger picture is important. Leinster want more trophies in the seasons ahead. This is an extremely talented squad who could still get better.
But on Saturday, none of that bigger picture really mattered. It was all about Leinster finally having cause to celebrate. They have been brilliant for long patches of the last four years but hadn't been able to add to the province's glittering history with more trophies. Their supporters had taken pride in a homegrown squad playing some scintillating stuff, but they also experienced repeated knock-out pain.
It hasn't stopped them coming back for more. The atmosphere generated by 46,127 people at Croke Park - the biggest-ever crowd for a league final held in Ireland – on Saturday was brilliant. Leinster fans clearly got it, as evidenced by the momentous celebration of an early scrum penalty. It was similar the weekend before against Glasgow in the Aviva Stadium as players and fans worked in tandem.
There has been some dismissive commentary on attendance numbers at Leinster games recently, but the reality is that they are one of the best-supported club teams in the world, along with Bordeaux. The Leinster faithful were rewarded on Saturday.
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It was all the more satisfying because Leo Cullen's team produced their best performance of the season to finish it on a high. The disappointment of the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton will linger, largely because Leinster weren't near their best.
Dan Sheehan with the URC trophy. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Last weekend, with their first-ever URC title on the line, Leinster put all the pieces together.
So, mixed in with all the joy of Saturday night was another emotion.
'I think it's more relief than anything that we got it done,' said experienced scrum-half McGrath as the dust settled on Leinster's 32-7 victory.
The Irish province dismantled a good Bulls team. The South Africans, who pride themselves on physicality, were bullied by the Leinster pack for most of the game. The set-piece was the Bulls' real hope of pulling off a win but Leinster were on top in those battles. Clarkson, Andrew Porter and co. were excellent in the scrum. Leinster's lineout, which had been poor this season in the URC, has been solid more recently. A 100% return on their throw in the final was pleasing.
There were moments of attacking genius from Leinster in among their muscular, disciplined approach to this final. Take, for example, the little dink in behind from Luke McGrath for Jordie Barrett to run onto, volley on the bounce, turning into a try.
There was high-quality kicking, a prominent feature of Leinster's game all season but especially in these URC knock-out games. Prendergast's delightful 50:22 down the right was a standout example of how they put pressure on the Bulls in that domain.
In truth, Leinster were better in all aspects. Finals are rarely such one-sided affairs but the Bulls were chasing shadows from early on. Even when they had a second-half surge of energy, Leinster rode it out and finished the game off in style.
That was fitting because it reflected their overall season in the URC. 21 games played, 19 won, two lost. One of those defeats was a narrow loss to the Bulls in Pretoria, the other a bad day away to the Scarlets when Cullen and co. rested lots of frontliners.
Max Deegan and Joe McCarthy. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Otherwise, Leinster have been a picture of ruthless consistency in this URC campaign. They picked up 11 try-scoring bonus points in their 18 regular-season games, then scored 14 more tries in their three knock-out games.
And all of this in the new, much more competitive URC era. Rarely has there been more deserving champions.
It might be pointed out that this is what Leinster should have been doing in recent years. Which is fair. Whatever about not adding a fifth star in the Champions Cup, Leinster's inability to get over the line in the URC has arguably been a bigger issue given that there is no one else with resources like La Rochelle or Toulouse in the URC.
Already, there has been talk about how Leinster lifting the URC trophy and getting the silverware monkey off their backs will have positive knock-on effects when the business end of the Champions Cup rolls around next year.
That's true, of course. This success should instil Leinster with more belief that they can bring their A game on the big days. The Champions Cup will always remain Leinster's priority but that doesn't mean this URC success wasn't special.
As the players glided around Croke Park on their lap of honour on Saturday, their families having joined them out on the pitch, it was clear that this impressive achievement means a hell of a lot to them.
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