'No ceiling' to Leinster pack that takes on Toulouse in Champions Cup final
Tadhg Furlong of Leinster, centre, celebrates winning a scrum penalty during the Investec Champions Cup semi-final match against Northampton Saints. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Robin McBryde is convinced that even the sky isn’t the limit for Leinster’s pack as the province goes about ending its recent trophy drought in Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup final against Toulouse in London.
The weekend’s match-up is a glitzy affair between the two most high-achieving sides in the history of ‘European’ club rugby, and the touch of glamour is only emphasised again by the surroundings that will be the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A promising weather forecast may even provide the perfect backdrop for it all and yet this remains a rugby match in the professional era so the primacy of what happens up front and between the grunts remains unchallenged.
Toulouse bring an enormous pack to the decider and one with world-class ball-handling and running skills. They are equal opportunity creators in a XV that can and does play scintillating rugby but Leinster are no slouches.
McBryde, the Leinster forwards coach, agrees there.
“It’s very easy when you look at the opposition you’re playing, you forget who is playing in blue as well. You know what they are looking at when they’re looking at us, we’ve got to keep on reminding ourselves of that this week, and fire a few shots of our own.”
Do that and they will go a long way to stopping a certain Antoine Dupont.
“Listen, when he has the ability to play on the front foot and he has speed of the ball, like most good nines he’s going to be a threat,” said the Welshman. “We’re going to have to take the sting out of the pack somehow.
“We need to make sure that he doesn’t get those two things that are so vital to him, that give him life. He’s able to create quite a bit on his own bat and we can’t make it too easy for him, we’ve got to front up as a pack and that will be our job really.”
Leinster will have the benefit of being able to call on James Ryan after the co-captain returned from injury against Ulster last weekend and reported no ill effects. Will Connors came through his run in Belfast without any issue too.
The province will take to the field with eight Test players bursting from the ranks and with another slew of internationals braced as part of the second wave. McBryde offers any number of reasons to be confident in their abilities.
“Experience: they don't take anything for granted. Big match players, cohesion, the level of quality in training, the growth that I'm consistently seeing from season to season, game to game whatever, there's no ceiling on this group. It’s a great place to be.”
Ryan’s return only swells the case for Leinster to revert to a 6/2 bench split, as they did for the quarter-final against La Rochelle in Dublin before reverting to the traditional 5/3 for the narrow win against Northampton Saints in the last four.
Garry Ringrose is again listed as doubtful with his ongoing shoulder injury requiring further assessment before a decision can be made but it would be a surprise to see him parachuted back in at this point in time having missed so much rugby since January.
Joe McCarthy and James Lowe are the only two players who featured against the Saints not to have played against either the Ospreys or Ulster in the last two URC rounds since so the hope is that the squad is in that sweet spot between rested and match fit.
McBryde described that last-gasp loss to Ulster in Belfast as a “shot across the bows” for the side as they brace for the big one, not just in the manner of the loss but in the concession of a driving maul earlier in the evening.
Win this and Leinster draw level with their opponents on five titles apiece. Lose and it subjects them to a third straight decider shortfall and another summer of searching and uncomfortable questions.
McBryde is relishing the challenge but claims that the end result won’t define his happiness either way. He looks back at the previous defeats to La Rochelle and claims to have found enjoyment in the occasions despite the horrible endings.
“I know we lost, yeah, but if you're going to hinge the happiness or quality of your life on winning all the time… Everybody's different. That doesn't really bother me. If we get a win, that will be the icing on the cake.
“We've still done the same journey, still put the same hours of work in. We need to learn the lessons and perform on Saturday. That's the most important thing really: that we turn up, perform, believe in ourselves, give it a good crack.”
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