Leinster must 'pause and review' after mixed opening to URC defence

Due to the presence of 22 players from their senior squad in the Irish set-up for their upcoming November internationals, there was a largely experimental look to the Leinster side for this game.

Mon, 27 Oct, 2025 - 06:56

Daire Walsh, Aviva Stadium

URC: Leinster 50 Zebre Parma 26

Leo Cullen has said Leinster will take some time to reflect after their opening block of fixtures in the 2025-26 season ended with a bonus point triumph over Zebre Parma at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

After losing three of their opening four games in the competition – back-to-back reversals to the Stormers and the Bulls on a mini tour of South Africa and a comprehensive defeat to arch rivals Munster in Croke Park – defending champions Leinster moved up to seventh spot in the United Rugby Championship table with the help of a 24-point victory against their Italian counterparts in Irish Rugby HQ.

The eastern province will now have an extended break before returning to competitive fare with an away trip to Dragons in the URC on November 28. This will be the first of 10 games in the space of just 64 days for Cullen’s men with four Champions Cup fixtures and a quartet of interprovincial clashes also forming part of a hectic schedule.

“We need to pause, just review what has happened in the first five games. It’s very unusual coming off the Lions. Guys a little bit cold going into that South Africa trip. What could we have done differently because clearly we didn’t get the desired outcomes that we would like for those Lions guys coming back,” Cullen remarked after Saturday’s game.

“Let’s reflect on that. Could we have done things differently because we’ve two wins from five games. That’s not what we set out to achieve. We need to reflect on that and do I need to do things differently, how I message the group? How we set the group up because we’re in the middle of the pack of the table.

“It’s bit of a time to reflect now and how do we get better for this next block of games. Because we need to really attack the block of games, what’s coming up. There is a break before that, so a bit of reflection time.”

Due to the presence of 22 players from their senior squad in the Irish set-up for their upcoming November internationals, there was a largely experimental look to the Leinster side for this game. Full-back Hugo McLaughlin was one of six men to make their debuts for the province on the night and he released Joshua Kenny (on his first start for the hosts) for a try with just 70 seconds gone on the clock.

Alex Soroka was a late addition to the Leinster starting line-up in place of Max Deegan and he seized his opportunity by crossing over either side of Mirko Belloni’s try for Zebre off Thomas Dominguez’s audacious crossfield delivery.

While Dominguez also dotted down for the visitors just shy of the first-quarter mark, Kenny completed his own brace of tries at the opposite end to ensure Leinster would come away with a bonus point.

Leinster winger Andrew Osborne and Dominguez were both sin-binned for offences that were subsequently upgraded to 20-minute red cards in a chaotic end to the opening period, but Giovanni Quattrini’s converted try for Zebre off a line-out maul meant the home team were just five points in front (26-21) at the interval.

This meant a Leinster victory was far from certain just yet, but tries from debutant Jerry Cahir (a former Cistercian College Roscrea student) and Harry Byrne offered them plenty of breathing space moving into the final-quarter at the Ballsbridge venue.

South African international RG Snyman was introduced off the bench along with a plethora of newcomers and the two-time World Cup winner claimed his maiden try of the season at the end of a team move on 68 minutes.

Marco Zanon finished off a fast-paced attack to guarantee Zebre emerged from this contest with a deserved bonus point to their names, but Leinster had the final say when Will Connors touched down in the 77th minute for his first provincial try since February 2020.

LEINSTER: H McLaughlin; J Kenny (F Gunne 59), H Cooney, C Tector, A Osborne (C Mangan 50 for red card); H Byrne (C Gabriel 75), L McGrath; J Cahir (A Usanov 65), J McKee (B Sheehan 61), R Slimani (A Sparrow 66); B Deeny (RG Snyman 43), D Mangan (B Deeny 57-69); A Soroka, S Penny, J Culhane (W Connors 37).

ZEBRE PARMA: L Pani (L Morisi 65); M Belloni (M Roger Farias 45), G Bertaccini, M Zanon, A Einstein Batista; G Da Re, T Dominguez (M Prinsloo 57 for red card); M Hasa (M Gallorini 61), G Quattrini (T Di Bartolomeo 44), M Nocera (P Buonfiglio h-t); F Carrera (G Milano 65-80), L Krumov; G Ferrari (G Licata 59), S Locatelli, D Odiase.

Referee: I Kenny (SRU).