Leinster end trophy drought by crushing Bulls in URC final
Leinster win their first trophy in four years. Picture: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Crisis? What crisis? Leinster’s run of big day disasters is over thanks to a brilliant opening quarter and an all-round display that bristled with intent, and it earned the province a first ever BKT URC title at the expense of Jake White’s Bulls.
This was actually Leinster’s ninth ‘league’ crown when all the Celtic League, Magners League, PRO12 and PRO14 iterations are added together. The real significance, as everyone knows, is that it marks their first trophy lift of any kind in four years.
It won’t make up for another failed Champions Cup tilt but they have at least won a game they simply couldn’t afford to lose. The rumours and the whispers around the team will ease now, the vibes around UCD when they meet again so much better.
They did it without the services of world-class scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park who had to withdraw on the morning of the game. The Bulls would have liked the sound of that, but this marks a third decider loss for them now in four years.
With the towering stands just over half-populated by a crowd of 46,127 this had the feel of one of those old Super Rugby games at Loftus Versfeld when the Bulls were collecting titles in the southern hemisphere version of the URC.
Leinster quickly made it their place, their day.
The signs were positive from early doors. Ryan Baird, eventually named man of the match, was dominating in the lineout. Sam Prendergast nailed Marco van Staden in his first tackle and showed some real maturity in the ways in which he varied the Leinster attack.
The physicality Leo Cullen’s men brought to a game that was always going to call for brute strength was equally obvious, and all the more impressive for the slippery conditions even if worst of the forecast didn’t come to pass.
All of which left them leading by 19-0 after 23 minutes. Though an incredible foothold, it was one that, given Leinster’s heartache in recent finals, inevitably drew comparisons with the blitzkrieg that hit La Rochelle two years ago across the Liffey.
That ended badly, not this one.
The first try of the day came after seven minutes with Jack Conan showing dexterous hands in picking up from the base of the ruck without hitting the brakes. That momentum took him through the tackle and over.
Jordie Barrett got the second with only another seven minutes on the clock, Luke McGrath’s clever chip kick finding oceans of space and the Kiwi fly-kicking the loose ball forward before touching down.
The second quarter had hardly kicked in when Leinster shaped for a driving maul off a 5-metre lineout only for Josh van der Flier to peel off the blindside and hit the deck. The province had hardly put a foot wrong.
Dream stuff.
Prendergast failed with a difficult third conversion but the 22-year old’s first two had hit the spot and those were huge moments in their own way in making the most of that early push and silencing doubts after his own issues from the tee.
Compare all that to the crazy crosskicks attempted by 35-year old veteran Willie Le Roux in both 22s, and Harold Vorster escaping any real censure for an ugly looking off-the-ball incident when he grabbed Joe McCarthy’s face and a thumb skirted the prone man’s eye.
Leinster were never going to keep purring at that early level and, while there was no more score from there to half-time, even this was notable and in their favour as they twice held the Bulls out despite two long sieges inside their 22.
One 18-phase assault was repelled, then a 15-phaser, the second bringing the first-half to a close. It felt every bit as important and big a statement than anything that had happened at the other end to that point.
The second-half brought the kind of arm wrestle that so many had expected from the off. Prendergast pushed the lead out to 22 points with a penalty soon after the restart before the Bulls finally struck for a converted Akker van der Merwe try off a lineout maul.
There was still no sense of some dramatic turnaround in the offing, even when Prendergast missed a simple penalty just over the hour. A subsequent and similarly straightforward effort five minutes sailed over to make it 25-7.
The cherry on top came with six minutes to go. Fintan Gunne was only brought on to the bench after Gibson-Park’s withdrawal but he claimed a brilliant try off a well-executed blindside play off a scrum just inside the 22.
Ross Byrne, playing his last game for Leinster before moving to Gloucester, kicked the afters.
It was that kind of day.
J O’Brien; T O’Brien, G Ringrose, J Barrett, J Lowe; S Prendergast, L McGrath; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Clarkson; J McCarthy, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, J Conan.
RG Snyman for Ryan (43); R Kelleher for Sheehan and R Slimani for Clarkson (both 56); R Byrne for Prendergast and F Gunne for McGrath (both 69); M Deegan for Conan, J Boyle for Porter and J Osborne for Ringrose (all 74).
W le Roux; C Moodie, D Kriel, H Vorster, S de Klerk; J Goosen, E Papier; JH Wessels, J Grobbelaar, W Louw; C Wiese, JF van Heerden; M van Staden, R Nortje, M Coetzee.
J Kirsten For Wiese (21); A van der Merwe for Grobelaar (44); A Tshakweni for Wessels (52); M Smith for Louw and N Carr for M Coetzee (both 65); D Williams for de Klerk (66); K Johannes for Goosen (69); Z Burger for Papier (71).
A Piardi (FIR).
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