Leinster coach Robin McBryde: 'We can't be scared, we've got to meet them head-on'
After victories over the Lions and Stormers, the Bulls will be the third successive South African team Leinster have faced in the URC play-offs. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
No Andrew Porter, no Paddy McCarthy and no Jack Boyle. Prop problems aren’t anything new to Leinster this season but missing their first, second and third-choice looseheads on the week of a URC final against South African opposition is a whole other ball game.
Porter lasted just 22 minutes of the semi-final win over the Stormers two weeks ago and it remains to be seen if the calf injury suffered then is a factor for Ireland’s summer tour and a squad due to be announced this week.
That’s Andy Farrell’s problem.
Leinster are now left leaning again on the likes of Alex Usanov, Jerry Cahir and Ed Byrne, the last of those having answered an SOS to come home from Cardiff in April when an earlier loosehead shortage stretched the province.
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Forwards coach Robin McBrdye is blunt enough to admit that none of this is welcome, and that any South African side worth its salted beef will be looking to probe for weaknesses when it comes to the battle in the tight.
“It’s not ideal but what it does is it grounds you as a coach because there are certain things that maybe you would want to do but because of an injury or whatever you have got to stick to what is going to count and priorities.
“It does help you prioritise and Friday night is no different. It’s the basics. You know they are going to come after you in the tighter aspects – the scrum, the lineout maul – so it would be foolish to look any further than that from a setpiece point of view.”
And the Bulls aren’t any old South African team.
McBryde didn’t demur when it was put to him that Johan Ackermann’s pack fields what is probably the best scrum in the URC. This will be a supreme test of Leinster’s physicality, their technique and their mental strength.
“I had a great conversation with Rabah Slimani last week. He said, ‘When you look at your opposite number, if he doesn't meet you eye-to-eye, if he goes early, if he doesn't respect the referee's commands, it just shows you he's scared.
“So we can't be scared. We've got to meet them head-on and go for it. And that's what we'll do.”
Leinster are also waiting on news of captain Caelan Doris who suffered a knee injury against the Stormers and Dan Sheehan who missed that semi-final win. Both were at training on Monday, Sheehan with some heavy strapping on his left leg.
The loss of either one, let alone both, would be a blow to Leo Cullen’s side as they look to become the first side to retain the URC trophy, but they showed last year that they can overcome the absence of key players.
It was Tadhg Furlong who sat out last year’s Grand Final defeat of the Bulls, also in Croke Park. Thomas Clarkson stepped up for the Wexford man – who is deemed fit this week despite some concerns – and has driven on from there this season.
“TC stepped in and again he is maturing as a player,” said McBryde. “It's surprising sometimes when somebody's given an opportunity, how well they do. And if they hadn't had that opportunity, where would they be and all those things.”
Leinster tore the Bulls asunder in that decider 12 months ago but Jake White has since been succeeded by Johan Ackermann who, after a difficult spell earlier in the season, has managed to find a tune out of a side that arrived in Dublin with serious momentum.
This is the third successive South African side Leinster have faced in the URC knockouts. The Lions were more of a ball playing opponent, the Stormers brought physicality and defensive pressure. The Bulls will bring a bit of everything.
“They play a lot more [than the Stormers], their attacking game has grown and they do their best to keep the ball alive.
“They’re still as potent, setpiece-wise, but there’s a general shift in their attitude, approach to keeping the ball alive, playing with tempo and staying on the front-foot with momentum.”
Last week’s layoff allowed Leinster to take pause for the first time in months and not least since that crushing Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao. They went about making full use of it.
McBryde explained how they had “unpacked” that experience and sieved through it for lessons to be learned. Little of it surprises: the need to be more clinical when opportunity knocks, and to clear your lines when the opportunity allows.
Do both of those better in the San Mames and Leinster might have had a chance. Another point of discussion? A perceived lack of energy that couldn’t just be explained away by the searing hot weather. This is a chance to make amends. They know that.
“It's just making sure on Friday hopefully that we turn up and give a performance that shows that we deserve to be in the final. Because the disappointment on that day and the whole Bilbao experience you've got to benefit from it somehow.
"We've had to work pretty hard to get to the final and it would be a shame if we didn't take the first opportunity to show that these are the lessons we've learned.”
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