The brutal ‘bottlers' snipe that sums up rivals' joy in Leinster's failings

Telegraph

05-05-2025

It did not take long for the schadenfreude to emerge following Leinster's latest European exit.
Simon Zebo, the former Munster and Ireland wing, poked fun at Leo Cullen's side following their 37-34 Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Northampton Saints. Zebo, who works as a pundit for tournament host broadcaster Premier Sport, posted a video of himself watching the post-match scenes, with a song called Bottlers playing in the background.
The Corkman, who won 35 caps for Ireland and retired at the end of last season, also posted a photo of a Leinster fan laughing with a pint of beer in his hand and carrying a shopping bag from an upmarket Dublin department store, a dig at their reputation to attract well-heeled supporters.
It may just have been interprovincial banter, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for Leinster to sidestep the 'bottler' tag.
@RossOCK great result for Leinster, but in fairness, Leinster fans were in relaxed mood and quietly confident before kick off pic.twitter.com/bgG5Igzs5G
— Alan Kealy (@alankealy) January 12, 2019
Cullen had seemingly assembled a side that could make a strong case to be regarded as the best there has ever been, strengthening the squad that lost their third successive final last season with the world-class talent of Jordie Barrett and RG Snyman, and the scrummaging menace of Rabah Slimani.
And yet once again they have fallen short, and inevitably more serious scrutiny will follow about the Irish province that benefits from the financial consequences of having 11 of the 14 IRFU centrally-contracted players in their squad. They have stardust from overseas and tailor every season to their pursuit of a fifth European title, the last of which came in 2018.
Cullen's coaching ticket also reflects their financial strength, headed up by the former Springboks' double World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber, but having glided through the knockout stages with a 62-0 win over Harlequins, and a 52-0 win over Glasgow, the defeat by Northampton raises questions about whether the pressure of the occasion got to them.
Cullen's decision to start Barrett, regarded by many as one of the most complete players in the world, on the bench also looks like an extremely costly blunder, given that the 57-times-capped All Black was brought in on a short-term contract specifically for these white-heat moments.
'I will look back on lots of different things over the course of the next few weeks,' said Cullen, the former Leinster, Leicester and Ireland lock. 'And, yes, when you don't win a game, particularly in a semi-final, everyone is going to second-guess everything.
'Jordie brought a huge impact, and that is what we wanted from him. Similar with Jack Conan, and a lot of other players that were on the bench. You look at us at the end of the game – we looked like a strong team, attacking the game. There's probably bits before where we weren't quite accurate enough. But I don't have regrets about that plan, specifically.'
Asked if he was still the right man to lead Leinster to another Champions Cup win, and the right man to head up the organisation, Cullen remained defiant.
'I believe that I am, yes,' he added. 'I think we've worked hard to try to improve the group year on year and I think the group is very strong right now.
'As I said, that's not something that's just created last week, it's year on year and I think we've a stronger group now.
'We've lost three finals over the last three years, yeah, but I believe we've a stronger group now than we've had and that's the way I will continue to approach the day to day in terms of preparing for the short term, medium term, long term. So, yes. And I'm very committed to that as well.
'Because of the pressure and expectation, I don't think that is a complacency thing. It is more about there being a little bit of desperation. We want to be successful, and maybe there is a lack of composure there.'
And so the wait goes on. Their last piece of silverware came with the United Rugby Championship back in 2021, and until Leinster win their fifth European title, Zebo and co are unlikely to relent on the 'bottlers' gags.