
Scarlets stun under-strength Leinster to keep URC play-off hopes alive
AN under-strength Leinster were beaten for just the second time this season as Scarlets clocked up a first win over the province since December 2018.
The victory for the hosts in Wales — their first over any Irish side since 2021 — maintains their URC play-off hopes, with Leinster eyes firmly fixed on their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton.
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Leinster suffered only their second defeat of the season in the URC against The Scarlets
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The win was the first win for Scarlets against Irish opposition in six years
Jamie Osborne, Diarmuid Mangan and James Culhane scored Leinster's tries with Ross Byrne converting two and adding a penalty.
But that was not enough for even a bonus point, something Scarlets did get as Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Gareth Davies and Taine Plumtree all dotted down.
They took the lead when a powerful burst from Plumtree broke the defence for the supporting Davies to race in under the posts.
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Sam Costelow converted and added a penalty before Leinster lost lock Brian Deeny with a leg injury.
After Byrne got Leo Cullen's side off the mark with a three-pointer, Rogers responded with a stylish try.
But from the restart, Costelow's clearance was charged down by replacement Mangan, with Osborne pouncing on the loose ball to score.
Plumtree, after a Leinster error, and Mangan, from close range, traded further tries as the Blues trailed 22-15 at the interval — a deficit made worse early on in the second half as Blair Murray set up Roberts for Scarlets' fourth.
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Culhane pulled another try back for Leinster but the league leaders were then held scoreless for the final half-hour.
Ronan O'Gara bizarrely ends press conference after 23 SECONDS amid La Rochelle's continued poor form
SCORERS — Scarlets: Tries, G Davies, T Rogers, Plumtree, Roberts; cons, Costelow 3; pens, Costelow, Lloyd 2. Leinster: Tries, J Osborne, Mangan, Culhane; cons, R Byrne 2; pen, R Byrne

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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Gordon D'Arcy: Leinster should forget about silencing the critics - just listen to the clarion call
Success in sport is rarely a linear pathway. More often there is a fair bit of rerouting after venturing into some culs-de-sac or hitting the odd speed bump or wobble. In 2009 Leinster won the Heineken Cup for the first time. The following season we believed ourselves to be equally motivated and hungry to repeat the dose but found out that the theoretical and practical weren't quite aligned. We topped our pool, squeezed past Clermont Auvergne at the RDS before coming a cropper against Toulouse in a semi-final in La Ville Rose. To compound matters we lost the Celtic League Grand Final to a strong Ospreys team in our backyard, the RDS. I still haven't come to terms with Tommy Bowe's jersey grab that stopped me making a tackle. To make matters worse he was one of their two try-scorers that day. I remember standing on the pitch, the tension so thick you could almost bite it, our faces serious but we were definitely overcooked – mentally and physically – at the wrong point in the week on match day. READ MORE Shaun Beirne, an Australian outhalf, brought a wealth of experience to Leinster, as well as an appreciation that playing sport was to be enjoyed for the most part, not simply endured. He tried to lift the mood, with words that I can still recall. 'Lads, it's meant to be fun, remember that.' Just like that, the mood shifted, a couple of smiles emerged. The pressure didn't disappear, but we carried it differently, we learned to embrace it. A decade and a half later and Leinster find themselves on the cusp of another watershed moment as they prepare for Saturday's URC final against the Bulls at Croke Park. Few teams get to be choosy about silverware, so while Leinster might have preferred a fifth star to signify another European crown, it's not the time to be sniffy about winning a different trophy. The URC might not carry the romance or glamour of a Champions Cup, but it is a brutally tough competition to win, something that Leinster have come to realise over the past four years. They bear the scars of defeat. Saturday provides an opportunity to finish a turbulent season on a high note. Leinster's Joe McCarthy wins a lineout at the Leinster v Glasgow Warriors URC semi-final game at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho Leinster's campaigns in Europe and domestically promised so much but that anticipation and expectation has been replaced by disparate emotions. Criticism has come, piled high – some of it fair, a lot exaggerated – while the vast majority has emerged from the strange, pixelated universe of social media, a space that doesn't reflect real-world sentiment as much as it claims to. It's a place where nuance dies and reaction rules. Unfortunately, it also tends to become the echo chamber for those that seek out kindred spirits in outlook and opinion. It doesn't matter how small or niche the vox pop. Leinster, for all their consistency and high performance over the last decade, have found themselves the victims of some serious schadenfreude in recent weeks. There are people, plenty of them, who get a bit of joy out of seeing Leinster fall short. That's part of the deal when you've set the bar so high. Winning isn't enough when you're expected to prevail. It's treated as if it's a bit ho-hum. But when you don't, critics are gleeful in their disparagement. What's interesting – and frankly refreshing – is that this time the Leinster players have clearly had enough of it. Joe McCarthy and Jack Conan both came out and made it known that the criticism is being heard, and that they're keen to answer back. [ Leinster driven by siege mentality ahead of URC showdown with Bulls Opens in new window ] Maybe what I've written has be taken in that same vein, but I loved hearing that. Too often the modern professional is in a verbal straitjacket, locked into a script, sanitised, safe, coached to be on-message. It's good to see some emotion every now and then. But, of course, calling it out brings its own pressure. Acknowledging the digital elephant in the room is one thing, responding to it with a performance is another. That's where Leinster stand now. They have to turn that siege mentality into a fuel source. While it's nice to hear them get a bit chippy, it's what they do on the UCD training pitches that matters most: how they've trained, talked, recovered, reset. The only energy worth carrying into this final is positive; relying on a faux edge from external criticism to me would not be enough to see them over the line. Jordie Barrett at Leinster Rugby Squad Training in UCD on Monday. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho I'm reminded of Joe Schmidt and what he drilled into us again and again: 'Control the controllables.' When you focus on yourself, all the positives that make you special as a group, it becomes really powerful as a galvanising force. There were genuine signs of life from a Leinster perspective last weekend in the win over Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium. A brilliant line from Dan Sheehan reminded us how dynamic he is with ball in hand. Tommy O'Brien brought energy and sharpness, while Ryan Baird was back to being that annoying, athletic pest every team hates playing against. And Jordie Barrett, slipping down the short side, showed exactly the kind of class that can change games in an instant. The performance wasn't complete, far from it. But there was shape, there was rhythm. The individual quality is still there. The opportunity now is to pull it all together, save the best performance for last, and answer the clarion call. [ Leinster class shines through in bruising URC semi-final that proved familiarity breeds contempt Opens in new window ] This week shouldn't be about silencing critics or snapping in half the proverbial stick people have been beating them with since the Champions Cup semi-final loss. That sort of external motivation burns out quickly in the heat of a match. It should be about turning inward, playing for each other, playing for the 16,000 or 17,000 supporters who keep showing up, even when the music's gone quiet. This is about giving them a day worth remembering. The Bulls are no pushovers, a power-based team with pace who will lick their lips at the idea of neutering the Irish province's set-piece launch pad. The Bulls scrum that tore through the Sharks pack will come for Leinster, every lineout contested, every ruck a dogfight. For the home side parity in these areas is a minimum requirement. Then it comes down to desire, individually and collectively. Leinster need a bit of that this week. Accept the pressure. Embrace it. And remember that they're good enough, if they believe it, to win this final on their terms, regardless of what the Bulls bring. Forget the external noise. Focus on the job, embrace the task with gusto. And enjoy it.


Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘Stars are aligned': Bulls take inspiration from fallen hero before facing Leinster in Croke Park
The Croke Park effect is something more than an imagined advantage for Leinster players. But this week it is much less a threat to the Bulls players than it has been to teams that have come before. The Leinster players hope to weave a little of their own rugby narrative into GAA history in the United Rugby Championship final on Saturday. But Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan has warned that the venue's aura could work in both teams' favour. He said it will be one of the many drivers for Leinster on the day, but he counselled that its allure and the events of more than 100 years ago could also have a galvanising effect on the Bulls. 'Over the last year or so we have played there three times,' said Sheehan. '[We know] how cool it is and how it amplifies the occasion, and I think the opposition also get a bit of lift from it.' READ MORE 'That's because they obviously read into the history of it. They realise that it is a big game for us. I think it's a benefit for both sides.' But there is more than that and the Johannesburg-born Bulls' coach Jake White has done his reading too. While Sheehan sees it as an energy source, White has cautioned his players not to talk about Croke Park's historical significance. 'A lot of these boys weren't around probably and haven't understood what the significance of Croke Park means in history and, to be fair, I told them not to comment or to be sucked in to anything that would lead anyone to read it the wrong way,' said White at the Bulls training ground at St Mary's RFC. Instead, White has cleverly turned the date and the number 14 into a kind of fateful symbol for his team. Former Springbok and Bulls winger Cornal Hendricks died suddenly this year on May 14th. A tribute to Cornal Hendricks during a Bulls training session in Loftus Versfeld Stadium South Africa in May. Photograph: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images The 37-year-old, who played 12 times for South Africa and was part of the Bulls resurgence under White, suffered a fatal heart attack. In homage to him, the team retired the number 14 jersey for the rest of the season, including in the play-off matches. 'He died on the May 14th, and Saturday we play on June 14th,' said White. 'It's quite an ominous number. Funnily enough, I was doing a bit of homework and I read that on Bloody Sunday, 14 people died at Croke Park. It's quite amazing that the number 14 comes up.' Bloody Sunday took place in 1920, when British forces opened fire on a crowd of almost 10,000 spectators at a football challenge match between Dublin and Tipperary, killing 14 people including Tipperary player Michael Hogan. 'So, there is a lot of nice memories of Cornal that we will use and the number 14,' added White. 'Hopefully it will be a fantastic day on June 14th for us as a club as well.' 'Everyone has a feeling about it and for us the fact that it is the 14th of the month, that when I read it was 14 people I thought, jeez, it was quite spooky, you know? He [Hendricks] dies on May 14th . . . I think his son was born on December 14th.' White also alluded to Munster's mournful defiance following the death of Anthony Foley. Foley died in his sleep in 2016 while staying at a hotel in Paris with the Munster squad. The team was preparing to face Racing 92 in its opening game of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup. In the first game after Foley's death, Munster beat Glasgow in a sold-out Thomond Park. Tributes were paid to Foley before, during and after the game and the number 8 jersey was retired for the match, with CJ Stander wearing the number 24 for the occasion. Before Ireland's historic first ever win against New Zealand in Soldier Field, Chicago later that year, the team paid tribute by forming a figure of eight, led by Stander, Simon Zebo, Conor Murray and Donnacha Ryan, to face the All Blacks' haka. 'There is a lot of relevance, the number 14 not being used this weekend,' said White. 'Sometimes you need that. Look what Munster did in the time that they lost their coach and how quickly the reason why just turned the way Munster became for that year. 'Stars are aligned,' he added. 'Hopefully we will use that in our favour.'


Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Leinster's Dan Sheehan says it is time to get physical in Saturday's showdown with Bulls
Dan Sheehan was in no mood for mixed messages this week. There are a hundred things to get right on Saturday against the Bulls but if it can be distilled down to one thing against an impressively aggressive side, it is to meet them with more than what they hit you with. 'I think everything comes off the back of physicality,' he says. 'You can have the best game plan in the world and it won't go well if your physicality is not right, whereas if you have a poor game plan and get your physicality right sometimes a lot of the time it works, so that's definitely one.' Set pieces and the Bulls' powerful scrum will come into the equation but if Leinster can start against them as they did their semi-final against Glasgow, that will set a mood and the Bulls might just feel some of the frustration Leinster have recently experienced. READ MORE There is no doubt the Bulls have come to Dublin to win the competition for the first time. They have lost two finals – against the Stormers in 2022 and Glasgow last season – whereas Leinster won it four years in a row but have had nothing to show for their efforts since 2021. In a demonstration of intent, the Bulls flew all the players they could get on business class flights to Dublin on Sunday night. It sent the right message. Teams usually leave South Africa on a Tuesday night and arrive in Ireland on the Wednesday. 'Obviously, the Bulls have the best scrum in the league stats-wise,' says Sheehan. 'They are very hard to play and I'm sure they will have a plan to disrupt our scrum and try and get over the top of us and we'll do similar and bring energy too. 'It's physical. You have to be brave and put yourself in front of these big fellas. They'll try to test you. They'll push buttons, it's chat after the ball goes out. It's rubbing your head in the dirt, but you know they get you both sides of the ball and I think people enjoy it. 'When you get it right it's incredibly rewarding to get a win over a South African team. We've experienced it over the years, I think it's a good battle and it's a good spectacle and I hope there's good excitement building through the week and we get a good crowd there.' [ Is Dan Sheehan the best hooker in the world? Opens in new window ] Personally – a word the players generally shy away from using – Sheehan last week almost scored another hat trick and twice came within inches of completing it, only for a committed Glasgow defence to knock him back reaching for the line. 'If Jamo [Gibson-Park] wants to pick me out five times in a row ... I was almost wishing he didn't towards the end of the first few minutes,' he says. 'That's a part of my game that I enjoy, being part of the attack, carrying, our set-plays. It just falls that way.' The sense is the Bulls will pose a different challenge than the European teams. Having lost to the South Africans in two semi-finals in recent years (2022 and 2024), Sheehan is well aware of this. But he is confident that if Leinster focus on their own game, and play to their potential as a group – and that means being better than last week – they have enough to get over the line. 'We need to make sure we get our stuff right,' he says. 'I think that's probably where we fell off last time, not getting our own stuff right rather than dealing with some of their stuff.'