Colin Sheridan: Demise of a Leinster empire that never conquered much

There is little glory in the province's victories and much less in the way they lose. 

Josh van der Flier of Leinster loses the ball in a tackle by Alex Coles of Northampton Saints. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

There are few things more compelling in sport than watching a team that is absolutely supposed to win, who instead capitulate and lose. And not just lose, but lose on the buzzer, with the game and a season and their entire reputation on the line. Such was Leinster's fate on Saturday. Their defeat to Northampton in the Champions Cup semi-final was a gift to rugby – I'd be quite certain that a fair proportion of those who were watching by the end of what was a pulsating encounter were only doing so because Leinster were losing. Had they been ahead early on, the prospect of cutting the grass on a fine Saturday would've been far more enticing and certainly a better use of time. There is only so much eulogising of Jamison Gibson-Park one man can take. Lions bolters, the Leinster way, it’s all a bit gout inducing. Schadenfreude or not, it’s human nature to revel in the decline of an empire. Only in Leinster's case, this is an empire that never conquered anything.

Just to recap – Leo Cullen's side is stacked with internationals. So stacked, they could afford to leave their best player, Jordie Barrett, on the bench until the final 30 minutes of a game they were losing, despite him being fully fit. Two seasons ago, they brought in Jacques Nienaber, a World Cup winning coach regarded as one of the best in the game. They signed Barrett, RG Snyman - a player Munster could not afford to keep – and French prop Rabah Slimani. They also acquired another highly regarded coach in Tyler Bleyendaal at the beginning of this season. With Barrett’s short-term deal set to expire in the summer, last week the team announced the signing of All Black star Rieko Ioane. With Ireland’s other three provinces struggling to recruit players, attract crowds and win matches, Leinster’s profligacy has understandably made them a target for derision, not least because their obvious affluence has only yielded one Champions Cup title in eight seasons, a sorry return in the context of their dominance of the domestic game and their incredibly inflated opinion of themselves.