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Irish Daily Mirror
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
What time and TV channel is Georgia vs Ireland on today?
What does an Ireland team look like when sixteen players are away with the Lions and a further two front-line stars, Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw, are injured?Well like this one lining up to play the first of two summer test matches, against Georgia and Portugal. Actually, the good news is that players such as Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey and Ryan Baird are in situ while recently capped Jimmy O'Brien, Thomas Clarkson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Gus McCarthy are in the are two debutants in the line-up, Leinster's powerhouse winger Tommy O'Brien who could do no wrong post-Christmas and Connacht's beanpole second-row Darragh Murray (pronounced Muh-ray if you must know...)Munster cause-celebre Gavin Coombes gets a chance to make his case with a rare have mustered a selection show-casing nine players who play in France, six from the Top 14 and three from PROD2 (see team sheet at bottom).The other six are with Black Lions, the side selected from their domestic league and coached by national coach Richard Cockerill that represents Georgia on an invite in the EPCR European Challenge Cup. They've beaten Scarlets 23-7 in Llanelli in 2023 and Vannes 22-19 in Tbilisi mightn't get any easier with those coming from the bench either as it has a similar Top14/PROD2/Black Lion make up. Tedo Abzhandadze, incidentally, went to Terenure is what you need to know about the match:Where and when is it?The match takes place at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi on Saturday, July time is kick-off?The action gets under way at 6pm Irish are the match officials?Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)Assistant referees: Adam Leal (England) & Ben Whitehouse (Wales)TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)QUOTES CORNERPaul O'Connell, Interim Ireland coach said: "They have a mixture of players playing in France who bring a real, I suppose, flair to what they do and the Black Lion players have impressed a lot of the coaches as well. The likes of Mikeil Babunasvili and Luke Ivanasvilli from a forward point of view, these kinds of guys are really tough, well organised, smart rugby players."They had a good Autumn, nearly beating Italy, they had a good summer, they put 29 points on Australia down there although they didn't beat them. They beat a tier one nation in Japan. They've been steadily beating tier one nations in the last number of years. So it's a brilliant test match for our players."Georgia Coach Richard Cockerill on the burning agenda in Georgia rugby: "If you are finishing bottom of the Six Nations why do you just get free rein to turn up next year and play?"We want the opportunity to prove that we can compete, so surely that's logical we get the opportunity to have a play-off."We feel we are probably a little bit too strong for the second level tournament although the other teams are improving, especially Spain and Romania, but for us to improve we need to play at a tougher level. Italy had that opportunity in the early 2000s."It would be the richest game in World Rugby - Georgia versus Wales at some point in the near future to see who plays in the Six Nations for the next tournament. That's jeopardy, isn't it? That would be a game people would want to watch."We feel we've earned the right, we want the opportunity to prove that potentially we're good enough to compete on a regular basis at that level."Debutant Tommy O'Brien, just turned 27, finally fully fit and finishing the season as one of Leinster's most valued players: "I guess I've known what I can do in training but it's obviously behind closed doors so the general public wouldn't see it."But I had a bit of confidence in what I was doing and the fact you're training in Leinster with such high level players, such international quality players, I took a bit of confidence from that and I felt I just needed to get a chance to get a couple of games under my YOU KNOW: Ireland beat Georgia 14-10 at RWC 2007 - thanks to Denis Leamy getting his hand under the ball preventing a touchdown after Georgia had crossed the Irish line looking to touch down in the 78th minute. DID YOU KNOW: Georgia are ranked no11 in the world, one place above ODDSGeorgia win: 7/1Ireland win: 1/10Draw: 35/1What TV CHANNEL IS IT ON?The match will be shown on Virgin Media - Joe Molloy will lead coverage with Ian Madigan, Andrew Trimble as studio analysts. John Forrest will be commentator with Alan Quinlan as co-commentator. Coverage begins 5.30pmTEAMSGeorgia : 15 Davit Niniashvili (Lyon); 14 Akaki Tabutsadze (Black Lion), 13 Demur Tapladze (Grenoble), 12 Giorgi Kveseladze (Black Lion), 11 Sandro Todua (Black Lion); 10 Luka Matkava (Castres), 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze (Oyonnax);1 Giorgi Akhaladze (ASM Clermont), 2 Vano Karkadze (Montpellier), 3 Irakli Aptsiauri Lyon), 4 Mikheil Babunashvili (Black Lion), 5 Lado Chachanidze (Black Lion), 6 Luka Ivanishvili (Black Lion), 7 Beka Saghinadze (Lyon), 8 Tornike Jalagonia (Provence),Replacements: 16 Irakli Kvatadze (Black Lion), 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili (Perpignan), 18 Beka Gigashvili (Toulon), 19 Giorgi Javakhia (Grenoble), 20 Ilia Spanderashvili (Valence), 21 Mikheil Alania (Black Lion), 22 Tedo Abzhandadze (Aurillac), 23 Tornike Kakhoidze (Black Lion).Ireland: 15 Jimmy O'Brien; 14 Tommy O'Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale; 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey; 1 Jack Boyle, 2 Gus McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Darragh Murray, 6 Ryan Baird, 7 Nick Timony, 8 Gavin CoombesReplacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Calvin Nash.
Extra.ie
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Ireland v Georgia: What you need to know ahead of huge test for Ireland's prop idols
When you think of scrums, the Georgians immediately spring to mind. When it comes to the dark arts of the set piece, the Lelos are the masters. Many Tier One forward units have packed down against Georgia and still bear the scars – both mental and physical – from the experience. The nation that straddles Europe and Asia has always produced giant forwards and hardy props who love to scrum. A 2018 training session between England and Georgia on a school training pitch in West London still lives in infamy. Then England head coach Eddie Jones felt his forwards could do with a scrummaging session against the Georgians, and it proved a sobering afternoon for the hosts. 27 February 2016; Stuart McCloskey, Ireland, is tackled by Dylan Hartley, England. Pic: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE 'We got a hiding that day,' former England captain Dylan Hartley recalled years later. Joe Marler got through a gruelling shift on the loosehead side of the scrum and remembers that referee Wayne Barnes, who was bussed in to bring a bit of order to all the chaos, began to fear for the well-being of the English pack. 'We had a five metre scrum and it was under the sticks near one of the posts, and he said, 'wait, hang on a minute' and he moved the scrum 10 metres away from the posts because he was worried we were going to go back so fast that there would be an injury going into this post.' This is what a young Irish pack will be facing this weekend. This rising rugby nation has long been banging on the door for further exposure. Pleas to be included in the Six Nations or at least a shot at gaining a seat at the championship table through a promotion bid have fallen on deaf ears for years, despite Georgia claiming recent wins against Wales and Italy. Caelan Doris. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile On Saturday, they will look to make a big statement against a Six Nations heavyweight. Ireland arrives in Tbilisi this week for a match at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium. The visitors are without 16 frontliners, who are on Lions duty in Australia, while key players such as Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw have been ruled out through injury. Cian Healy, Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray have all called it a day. So, this is a depleted Irish squad which, lest we forget, is shorn of head coach Andy Farrell and a host of assistant coaches and key backroom members. But it would still be a huge scalp for the Georgians. They will be fired up for this meeting. Their home stadium will be packed to the rafters, and, despite the 9 pm local kick-off time, it is expected to be a sweltering night in their capital city. Pic: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) This young and experimental Irish team is going to feel the heat all evening, especially at scrum time. It almost feels like this fixture was engineered to stress test the next generation of Irish props. Much has been made about the depth, or lack thereof, in the Irish front-row departments of late. This is not a new development. John Hayes and his successor Mike Ross effectively propped up Irish scrums for the best part of two decades between them. It was only when Andrew Porter emerged on the scene to back up Tadhg Furlong that Ireland seemed to have genuine depth at tighthead. Porter was subsequently shifted over to the loosehead side. The situation was so bad last year that the newly-appointed IRFU performance director, David Humphreys, announced that the provinces would need to adhere to a recruitment freeze on overseas front-rowers the following season. Humphreys has rowed back on that stance. Thomas Clarkson. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile The emergence of Jack Boyle and Thomas Clarkson in the Leinster system was seen as a positive development, while Michael Milne and Lee Barron moving to Munster was another encouraging move. And Ireland's next generation of young front-rowers are set to be put to the test this weekend. Furlong, Finlay Bealham and Porter are on Lions duty, while Healy has hung up his boots. The Leinster stalwart was still going strong at 37 last season, but the fact that his province and country were still leaning so heavily on him as a back-up to Porter said everything about the lack of trust in the younger candidates. Now, interim head coach Paul O'Connell is set to pit a front row of greenhorns against one of the fiercest scrummaging packs in the world. An all-Leinster front row of Boyle (23), Gus McCarthy (21) and Clarkson (25) are primed to start in Tbilisi. This could be a massive weekend in the burgeoning careers of three front-rowers with a combined total of 12 caps between them. McCarthy was a breakout star of the autumn internationals series when the academy hooker was handed a Test debut against Fiji at Aviva Stadium. Now that Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher are on Lions special ops, he has another brilliant opportunity to move further up the pecking order. Boyle and Clarkson have both made massive strides in the past 12 months. The former made two impressive late cameos from the bench against Wales and Italy in the Six Nations. Clarkson's one and only Ireland start came against the Welsh in Cardiff. The Leinster tighthead had a tough afternoon, but he has clearly learned from the experience. Clarkson has always been a mobile prop who gets through plenty of work around the park. His scrummaging has notably improved as well, however. The URC final felt like a big day in his career. A giant Bulls pack – featuring monstrous Springbok tighthead Wilco Louw – was widely tipped to do a demolition job on a Leinster pack that was without the services of the injured Furlong. But head coach Leo Cullen made a big show of faith in Clarkson, keeping renowned French tighthead Rabah Slimani in reserve and backing the young tighthead to lock out the Leinster scrum. And Clarkson excelled as the South Africans were put to the sword in Croke Park. Another big shift against the Georgians and Clarkson can look forward to more exposure, with Leinster and Ireland, in the coming years. The same goes for Boyle. Because the Georgians are the ultimate test in this area. No better time to see if Ireland's fledgling props have the right stuff.
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Gerry Thornley: The true story of Leinster in the 2020s is one of remarkable success
In the decade between 2012 and 2021, Mayo reached six All-Ireland football finals and lost them all – three of them by a single point and one of those after a replay. Including the draw in 2016, their average losing margin in seven finals was less than 2.5 points. Some people apparently regard them as chokers, which is a joke really. As John Barclay said on Premier Sports last Saturday, losing a semi-final is possibly preferable to doing so in a final. In truth, for that Mayo team to keep picking themselves up off the canvas after each bitter disappointment in order to start all over again in pursuit of their holy grail shows incredible strength of character. It would be so much easier to give up and walk away. Three of their six losses were against Jim Gavin's six-in-a-row side, widely considered to be the best Gaelic football team of all time. Nobody pushed that Dubs side harder than Mayo. No other county came close. Yet they received nothing like the same scrutiny. By comparison, they were all given a free pass. Yes, you can see where this is going. At the recent Rugby Players of Ireland awards ceremony, Andrew Trimble, in his inimitably laconic way, asked Mayo native Caelan Doris if he had passed on the curse. To which Doris replied he has actually won at Croke Park. READ MORE Perhaps there is a slight irony in Doris, Jack Conan and Cian Healy finally lifting Leinster's first trophy in four seasons there last Saturday after an emphatic 32-7 win over the Bulls . Again, though, some jokers still regard this Leinster side as chokers. This is because, since their 2021 Pro14 success behind closed doors, Leinster had lost three successive Champions Cup finals against La Rochelle, in Marseille and Dublin, and Toulouse, in London. In May, they added a Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton at home. The province had also lost three successive URC semi-finals. The margins in those seven defeats were: three points, one, nine (having finished level after 80 minutes), three, one, one and five. In every one, the game was in the balance until the last play of the 80 minutes. Leinster's Johnny Sexton talks to referee Wayne Barnes during the 2022 Champions Cup final. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Leinster certainly haven't been awash with luck. They'd have won the 2022 Champions Cup final in Marseille but for Wayne Barnes penalising Ross Molony in the jackal on the premise that Michael Alaalatoa hadn't rolled away. No amount of replays will convince Molony or this columnist that the Leinster prop hadn't sufficiently manoeuvred himself out of the way. One final where the 'choker' tag might have some validation is the 27-26 loss to La Rochelle in 2023. Leinster had led by 17-0 and then 23-7, but they didn't score a point after the 46th minute. That statistic and zero second-half passes between the entire backline outside Ross Byrne was evidence of how they stopped playing. Still, that was Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle team at their irresistible best. They deserved credit for the comeback, which had shades of Leinster's fightback in the 2011 decider against Northampton. In the pulsating 2024 final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Leinster came within a whisker of sealing a win in the 80th minute via Ciarán Frawley's drop goal attempt. He nailed two against the Springboks in Durban a few weeks later. Again, they received hardly any of the 50-50 calls from Matthew Carley, most notably when identical offences by Anthony Jelonch and James Lowe – in slapping the ball over the touchline – received contrasting punishments. Toulouse were widely acclaimed as the best French club side ever, with the sport's greatest player as their captain and talisman. Further putting that epic 2024 final in London into perspective, five weeks later Toulouse beat Bordeaux Bègles by 59-3 at the Stade de France, a record winning margin for a final in the history of the French Championship. Only one other team has reached three successive Champions Cup finals but, naturally, Leinster receive little or no credit for that, or for much else. In the last four seasons they've won 91 matches, drawn one and lost 20. In the Champions Cup they've won 27 out of 31 games. They've put 40 on Toulouse (twice) and La Rochelle, whom they've also beaten twice in a row away. They've entertained royally, played some thrilling rugby and scored oodles of great tries. Leinster's Andrew Porter celebrates with champagne in the dressing room after the URC final. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho In the aftermath of Saturday's final, head coach Leo Cullen – who might well have considered stepping down had Leinster not won – wondered aloud as to what constitutes success or failure. The line between them is not so blurred anymore, and in Leinster's case it is seemingly judged solely by whether they win the Champions Cup or not. Hence, the one that got away is this year's defeat against Northampton, one of only two semi-final losses suffered by home sides in the last decade. As Tommy O'Brien admitted – although Ryan Baird refutes the theory utterly – Leinster were 'flat' in their ensuing games but rediscovered their buzz in the last fortnight when convincingly dethroning the champions and then their nearest challengers, who beat them in last season's semi-finals. That still doesn't completely ease the pain from that Northampton defeat, which has been deemed a non-show but was perhaps more accurately a delayed show in what was one of the games of the season. It must still bemuse Leinster as much as us, and in the absence of a Antoine Dupont-less Toulouse, is compounded by Bordeaux Bègles awaiting in a Cardiff final and thoughts of what might have been. Ultimately, though, Leinster won one of only two trophies on offer and reached the semi-final of the other. They also won 25 of 28 matches. They earned a half-dozen home play-off ties to further swell the coffers. They provided a record dozen Lions. Season ticket holders are up to 15,000 ahead of returning to an expanded RDS. With any other club, region or province, that would be considered a successful season. Anyone other than Leinster. The URC has never been harder to win and yet no team has ever been more deserving champions. Maybe it's time they cut themselves a little slack. And maybe it's time we did too. gerrythornley@
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Croke Park filled with relief and joy after Leinster shake off ‘nearly men' tag to win URC
Take a bow again, Leinster . The United Rugby Championship , in all its many iterations over the last quarter of a century, has never been harder to win, and yet never have there been more convincing and deserving champions. Having topped the regular-season table, when scoring the most tries and points while conceding the least, Leinster made it 18 wins in 21 matches by applying the coup de grace with a commanding 32-7 win over the Bulls to properly mark Saturday's historic final at Croke Park. The South Africans had finished second and were one of the only two teams to have beaten Leinster, thanks to a last-minute scrum penalty against an understrength side at home last March. But ultimately, Leinster were first and the rest nowhere as they banished some of the demons generated by three final losses and four semi-final defeats across both competitions – the URC and Champions Cup – in the last four seasons. Judged by the highest standards, which Leinster set themselves and almost everybody else sets for them too, they'll still have a few regrets about the season – well one game anyway . However, this emphatic triumph was a mighty weight off their shoulders. READ MORE 'It's great to get back to winning ways and to win at home at an iconic stadium,' said captain-for-the-day Jack Conan, reflecting the sense of relief, satisfaction and joy among players, backroom staff and supporters alike after he shared the trophy lift with Caelan Doris and Cian Healy. So many lads here have never won anything for Leinster — Jack Conan 'Does it mean more than the other ones? Look, we just take it day by day,' added Conan. 'But yeah, it's an unbelievably long year because you've got to go to South Africa after we've just finished up the Six Nations, so it's tough.' Indeed, compared to the scattered sprints of the Champions Cup, the URC is more of a 10-month marathon and thus requires more of a squad effort. Leinster used 58 players in the course of their campaign and Conan made special reference to those who rolled up their sleeves against the Bulls in Pretoria and when beating the Sharks 10-7 a week after that defeat to the Bulls. Leinster's Dan Sheehan and Ross Byrne celebrate with the URC trophy. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho What's more, they also depowered the Bulls on Saturday and put them to the sword despite Jamison Gibson-Park joining Tadhg Furlong, Doris and Hugo Keenan among the absentees. 'I know a lot of them lads weren't playing today,' said Conan, and in fact 17 of the matchday squad in Durban were not involved in this final, 'but we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for those lads and what they did over there. 'So many lads here have never won anything for Leinster. They've won a load of stuff for Ireland, they've won Grand Slams, Triple Crowns and things, but never won anything for Leinster. We wanted to make it a special day for them, for the lads that are leaving, and fundamentally we just wanted to perform. 'Whether we won by one point, or whatever the scoreline at the end, we just wanted to perform and we did that. I think that's the most pleasing thing. We've been building nicely the last few weeks, and to go out and properly put on a performance today is incredibly special.' One of those finals and three of the semi-finals had been lost at home and the latest of them – six weeks ago against Northampton – weighed heavily. Hence this trophy lift, lap of honour and a second trophy lift in the Hogan Stand – at the prompting of their media manager Marcus Ó Buachalla – was all the more joyous given Leinster were lifting their first silverware in front of a home crowd since 2018. The 2019 title was won in Glasgow and the two that followed were behind closed doors, which rather took the joy out of it. Maybe that's partly what prompted a healthy turnout of 46,127 after just six days' ticket sales. It eclipsed the previous record attendance for a final in Ireland when Leinster completed the double by beating the Scarlets in the Aviva in 2018. 'They are the memories really,' said head coach Leo Cullen of the post-match celebrations in front of their supporters, and he paid particular thanks to families and friends. Leinster's Jimmy O'Brien, Jordie Barrett and Rabah Slimani celebrate. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'The players and the staff, we're in our own little world, it's the families that have to deal with the brunt of it. The majority of the players are home-grown talent, it is not like a normal professional franchise where people are brought in from wherever, and they probably get it in the neck the most. 'The people [I'm] most happy for is the family and friends who support the players and staff associated with the team through thick and thin. At least it wasn't one of those 'hold on', one-score games at the end, so they were probably able to enjoy the moment. Listen, that's what sport is about, isn't it. It's bloody hard to win anything.' He knows more than anybody. Cullen took the brunt of the flak for three trophyless seasons and that Northampton defeat, as well as dealing with its implications, along with injuries and the sideshow of a dozen Lions. After each of the five ensuing wins, that Northampton scar was referenced. 'You don't get any bonus for winning well,' he said. 'We started off the season of knock-out games winning a game here very well (62-0 v Harlequins), then won a game six days later very well (52-0 v Glasgow), then it's not that the wheels fall off, but you lose a very tight game and then have to deal with the fallout from that. 'But that's just the way it is, that's just part of the territory. That's professional sport, that's the nature of it. It is what it is.' Those other semi-final and final losses were also in his thoughts. 'We've lost in different ways, at the death, after extra-time, but you've just got to keep putting ourselves in that position and keep pushing the boundaries of what we do. You get criticism when you lose, [but] it still doesn't take away from what, personally speaking, I love doing. 'Pressure is great; it's part and parcel of sport. It's a great way to feel alive, we're lucky to be involved in it,' he said, before suggesting that coping with the high expectations is perhaps not always so great. 'Keep the abuse coming,' said Cullen cheerily. 'We don't mind. Thick skins.'
Irish Times
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster Jack Conan relishes ‘incredibly special' moments at Croke Park following URC win
Jack Conan described sharing the URC trophy lift with Caelan Doris and Cian Healy as 'incredibly special' after Leinster's 32-7 win over the Bulls in the final at Croke Park. The Leinster captain also credited their media manager Marcus O'Buachalla for the idea of paying homage to All-Ireland winning teams by conducting a second trophy lift in the Hogan Stand. 'It's not something you could ever dream of when you were growing up, or even in the last few years because obviously it has been so long since we had played here as a club,' said Conan after Leinster's fifth and most significant win of their five visits to the iconic home of the GAA. 'So, it's not something that was ever you on your radar but it's just fantastic. I know it wasn't full today but there were 46-odd thousand people and we could feel every single one of them. READ MORE [ URC Grand Final: Five things we learned as Leinster end trophy drought after four years Opens in new window ] 'We could hear their voices and they got behind us. They stayed after the final whistle for us to do a lap. One of the big reasons we do what we do is to give back to the people who come to support us through the good days and the bad days. 'It's incredibly pertinent that we give them something to celebrate. I think everyone is just elated.' Conan said he had 'absolutely no idea' whose idea it was before venturing: 'Marcus O'Buachalla! He needs a shout out at least once a week!' He added: 'I was conscious of the lads trying to lift up my shirt and making an absolute mug of me so I was tucking that in. Leinster's Andrew Porter celebrates with champagne in the dressing room after the game. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'Look, to be on the Hogan Stand to lift a trophy with all your mates, family, loved ones, it's incredibly special and something that will live long in the memory. 'I had a few words as Gaeilge but I was told my pronunciation was all over the place, so they told me not to do it! I don't think they wanted me to do a speech. I was told less is more!' Asked if the squad had emphasised the need to mark the occasion with an 80-minute performance, Conan said: 'No. We went the complete opposite way. We spoke about taking it moment by moment, being where your feet are and not getting ahead of ourselves. 'We knew it would be unbelievably physical. There's no point focusing on the bigger pressure, it's on the here and now. I thought we dealt really well with how direct they were at the end of the first half. They were attacking our line hard and we're holding them out and some of those shots were incredible,' said Conan, admitting the two extended goal-line defensive sets leading up to the interval which kept their 19-0 lead intact typified the team's performance. 'It boils down to man on man and wanting to put your head where you wouldn't put a shovel. Getting off the line and trying to whack people. 'You can lose focus a little bit and think about rugby, all the different parts of it, but it's a physical game, and what we teed ourselves up for all week was the physical battle, and I think we did that throughout.' Leo Cullen said this triumph was for everybody in the organisation and especially the 46,127 in attendance, which was a record for a final in Dublin. Leinster's RG Snyman and Jamison Gibson-Park celebrate after the game. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'It was an amazing atmosphere out there today. Normally when you're in the Aviva, you're in a glass coaches' box and you're way off getting the sense of the occasion. Two Wicklow lads here getting involved in a final at Croke Park, a rare sight,' Cullen added, referencing himself and Conan. 'It's a very difficult competition to win, just the nature of the way the season is and there's a lot of great teams involved. The South African teams have been an amazing addition to the tournament. The Bulls are a great team.' Leinster's win earned them a first trophy in four seasons and after losing three finals and four semi-finals since last winning the Pro14 behind closed doors in 2021. 'Is your season, when you get to a final, a success or a failure,' asked Cullen rhetorically. 'Unfortunately, you guys, the way you write, the losers of a final suddenly are failures, whereas you get to the last day of the competition, I think you need to celebrate the two teams that are in the final. 'Obviously we've been on the flip side of that in the past. Does that deem us failures? I personally don't think it's a failure. We win today, it's great but we'll move on to the next challenge. We'll watch the guys that are on tour with Ireland and the Lions. That's a big part of what we want to try and do as well, push guys on to play at the next level. 'The rest of us will take a break, put the feet up for a while and spend time with family and friends.' Leinster head coach Leo Cullen with Jordie Barrett after the game. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho For his part, the Bulls' World Cup winning head coach Jake White heaped praise on Leinster in admitting they were eminently worthy winners on the day and champions over the season. 'This is not a normal team,' said White of Leinster. 'I made a note that they were 19-0 up and they bring on RG Snyman. It's just a different league. Leinster fans have been waiting for that 40-minute first-half performance all season. They are well coached and I don't know them all but I met Josh van der Flier and he's world-class and world-class as a person. 'They are the benchmark and have been for four years. That's our third loss in a final and now I have to try and find out how to turn silver into gold.' White also cited the 'seamless' change Leinster made at scrumhalf by bringing in Luke McGrath for Jamison Gibson-Park, and noted how Leinster targeted a Bulls' area of strength, their scrum. 'That's what international teams do,' said White, adding: 'We've been in three finals and that was by far the toughest final. That was another level up. That was another level up. That was Test rugby.' On how quickly Leinster realigned in defence and attack, White remarked: 'It was like everything was in fast forward. For our players they saw a different, organised tempo than they've seen all season. That's a phenomenal team.
