Ross Byrne central this time to Leinster’s final ambitions

FINAL AMBITIONS: Ross Byrne believes it take the squad of 50 players to lift a trophy. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

If it takes a village to raise a child then it needs a squad of up to 50 players to lift a trophy. That’s Ross Byrne’s take anyway and the Leinster out-half speaks from personal experience given his role when the province last claimed the Champions Cup.

Now 29, Byrne featured in all six pool games in the 2017-18 season. He started the first and last, against Montpellier, and came off the bench in the other four, twice against Glasgow Warriors and twice when Exeter Chiefs provided the opposition.

He scored one try and 18 points with the boot as Leinster topped Pool 3 and claimed ‘home’ advantage for games against Saracens and Scarlets that he watched from the stands before assuming another watching brief for the final against Racing 92 in Bilbao.

So, yeah, Byrne is one of those Leinster players who will feature in this latest final against Toulouse that already has a winner’s medal in his collection. The question is whether he feels as if he has already won one.

“Probably a bit of both. When you’re not in the 23 it is tough but everyone in here knows what everyone in the squad does every week. There are loads of lads who will miss out on the 23 this week but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t played an enormous part in us getting to the final.

“Without them we wouldn’t be in the final,” said Byrne who has also been part of the matchday squads when Leinster lost deciders in 2019, 2022 and last year. 

“That’s the nature of rugby. Some lads miss out because of how attritional it is and some lads miss out though selection so it is very tough for some lads.” 

Leinster have utilised 32 different players for this latest Champions Cup campaign, and plenty more again in the URC. The depth of their resources is such that players like Max Deegan and Scott Penny haven’t managed a single minute in ‘Europe’ so far.

Some are always more equal than others.

Jamison Gibson-Park has been pivotal in all seven games. The Ireland scrum-half has scored five tries and bent large parts of some of the biggest games to his will to such an extent that he may now be Leinster’s lodestone.

Like Byrne, Gibson-Park was more peripheral when the province won their fourth title in Bilbao six years ago. Luke McGrath was still very much the starting nine at the time with the imported Kiwi coming off the bench just after the hour.

It took Andy Farrell to kickstart Gibson-Park’s career. The Ireland head coach saw something others didn’t, parachuting him into the national squad and making him his starting scrum-half after almost a decade of a residency in the position by Conor Murray.

“It feels like he's been here forever, but he has just learned a lot, which is a big thing in terms of coaches inputting here and there. The experience he's had in terms of going up the levels and just being able to implement his game is a big thing.

“He has always been able to hang on to the natural ability that he has, no matter what level he plays at,” said Byrne. “You know how talented he is so it's brilliant for us as a team to have him when he's playing in this form. It definitely makes my life a lot easier.” 

Both will need to be in tune and on form if Leinster are to end their two-term trophy drought and see off a Toulouse looking for a sixth title. The pressure to succeed could hardly be greater but there is a sense from inside the camp of a collective eager to stress the journey even with the destination so close.

"Yeah, that's probably a big thing. They're very unique, [finals] don't come around that often. I know this is our third in a row but these weeks are few and far between, you don't know how many you're going to get in your career.

"So it's being able to enjoy it, particularly with the squad we have at the moment. It isn't going to be the same next season and there's coaches moving on as well so it's important that we do enjoy it and hopefully we can deliver a performance that we're happy with on Saturday.”