A YEAR ON from welcoming 46,127 people to Croke Park for their URC final victory over the Bulls, Leinster are hoping for another big crowd at the Jones’ Road venue.
Last year’s attendance set a new record for a URC decider in Ireland, and Leo Cullen signalled the province’s ambition to get close to that figure again as Leinster host the Bulls on Friday 19 June.
The Aviva Stadium was unavailable to Leinster because it is hosting Metallica concerts, while there will be games in Gaelic football’s Tailteann Cup at Croke Park on 20/21 June, hence the Friday night fixture for the URC final.
Leinster supporters who turned up last season were rewarded with a dominant final performance from their team. Leo Cullen’s men beat the Bulls in every area of the game and won 32-7 to end a four-year trophy wait.
It’s obviously a long way to come for most Bulls fans, although it’s worth noting that last year’s final attracted plenty of South African supporters who now live in Ireland and the UK.
Leinster will be relying on their own fans turning out in force if they’re to get close to matching last season’s crowd.
“We want to put on a proper show,” said Cullen.
“Croke Park, Friday night, it’s amazing for us to be in this situation. The Bulls have a big tradition. How many of their fans will travel?
“Hopefully, we’ll have a big crowd there. It was great last year and we’ll hopefully have the same.
“I still remember the first contacts in the game and what that was like. Hopefully, the fans come out in numbers again. It was a great occasion and hopefully this will be similar.”
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Leinster haven’t attracted big crowds for their two URC knock-out games in the last two weekends, with just 9,493 in attendance for the quarter-final win over the Lions and there were 15,346 people at the semi-final win over the Stormers on Saturday.
The figure for the Stormers game was in line with the attendance of 15,762 for Leinster’s semi-final against Glasgow at the Aviva last year.
Leinster fans ahead at the Aviva on Saturday. Henry Simpson / INPHO
Henry Simpson / INPHO / INPHO
“They seem to be on track with previous years,” said Cullen when asked if he has been concerned by attendances at Leinster’s home games recently.
“It’s one of the big challenges when rugby moves into June because it’s a bit unnatural, so to speak.
“The atmosphere was incredible out there [against the Stormers], that’s the important thing because whatever the attendance is, it’s about fans investing in the occasion and they were unbelievable there today. I want to stay positive on it.”
Having endured a barren run before last year’s URC success, Leinster are back in position to claim another title.
And the fact that there is a longer build-up to the final should help with selling more tickets.
Leinster will give their players some time off early this week before returning to training towards the end of the week.
The coaches are already deep into analysing the Bulls ahead of the final. This will be Leinster’s third consecutive knock-out game against South African opposition.
“The Lions were the South African shield winners, weren’t they?” said Cullen. “But they have a lot less Springbok international experience in their team. This was a big play-off game for them. I thought we were really clinical in that game.
“The Stormers put a lot more physical pressure on us. Their defensive system is pretty much identical to ours. It puts pressure on the opposition, so it does. Hence, why I was personally drawn to that system in the first place, obviously with Jacques [Nienaber] here.
“The Bulls, listen, they’re different the way they defend, but they’re a team with a tonne of Springbok experience. World Cup winners littered throughout their group. They would have learned a lot from the experience of being in a final last year.
“It was different if you think of the run-in, because it was a semi-final into a final. They’ve had a change of coaches since last year, so they will have learned from the experience.
“If you look at some of the players they’ve added, the likes of [Handré] Pollard in particular. He’s a World Cup winner and what he brings to a team. They’re a serious outfit.
“And, we’ll need to be at our best if we want to have a chance of winning the game.”
Leinster want to learn from their experience in Bilbao. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
The Bulls might reflect on how last year’s URC final went for them, but Leinster have a more recent final to learn from.
Their Champions Cup loss to Bordeaux in Bilbao is still very fresh in their minds.
“I’m not sure it will be 30-odd degrees in Croke Park, you never know,” said Cullen.
“There’s lots of things from that game we can have a deeper look at next week. It’s important that we understand there’s game plan, getting ready for the battle, all the rest. There’s so many different things that we can go back to.
“It’s a good opportunity for us, making sure that we don’t waste the opportunity and we’re well-prepared going into the game. That’s about the group. There’s the whole collective, and how we go about that preparation cycle.
“This is a slightly different preparation cycle. We have that extra bit of time to work with. But, yeah, enjoy the time. It’s a great thing to have to look forward to.”
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'We want to put on a proper show. Croke Park, Friday night, amazing'
A YEAR ON from welcoming 46,127 people to Croke Park for their URC final victory over the Bulls, Leinster are hoping for another big crowd at the Jones’ Road venue.
Last year’s attendance set a new record for a URC decider in Ireland, and Leo Cullen signalled the province’s ambition to get close to that figure again as Leinster host the Bulls on Friday 19 June.
The Aviva Stadium was unavailable to Leinster because it is hosting Metallica concerts, while there will be games in Gaelic football’s Tailteann Cup at Croke Park on 20/21 June, hence the Friday night fixture for the URC final.
Leinster supporters who turned up last season were rewarded with a dominant final performance from their team. Leo Cullen’s men beat the Bulls in every area of the game and won 32-7 to end a four-year trophy wait.
It’s obviously a long way to come for most Bulls fans, although it’s worth noting that last year’s final attracted plenty of South African supporters who now live in Ireland and the UK.
Leinster will be relying on their own fans turning out in force if they’re to get close to matching last season’s crowd.
“We want to put on a proper show,” said Cullen.
“Croke Park, Friday night, it’s amazing for us to be in this situation. The Bulls have a big tradition. How many of their fans will travel?
“Hopefully, we’ll have a big crowd there. It was great last year and we’ll hopefully have the same.
“I still remember the first contacts in the game and what that was like. Hopefully, the fans come out in numbers again. It was a great occasion and hopefully this will be similar.”
Leinster haven’t attracted big crowds for their two URC knock-out games in the last two weekends, with just 9,493 in attendance for the quarter-final win over the Lions and there were 15,346 people at the semi-final win over the Stormers on Saturday.
The figure for the Stormers game was in line with the attendance of 15,762 for Leinster’s semi-final against Glasgow at the Aviva last year.
“They seem to be on track with previous years,” said Cullen when asked if he has been concerned by attendances at Leinster’s home games recently.
“It’s one of the big challenges when rugby moves into June because it’s a bit unnatural, so to speak.
“The atmosphere was incredible out there [against the Stormers], that’s the important thing because whatever the attendance is, it’s about fans investing in the occasion and they were unbelievable there today. I want to stay positive on it.”
Having endured a barren run before last year’s URC success, Leinster are back in position to claim another title.
And the fact that there is a longer build-up to the final should help with selling more tickets.
Leinster will give their players some time off early this week before returning to training towards the end of the week.
The coaches are already deep into analysing the Bulls ahead of the final. This will be Leinster’s third consecutive knock-out game against South African opposition.
“The Lions were the South African shield winners, weren’t they?” said Cullen. “But they have a lot less Springbok international experience in their team. This was a big play-off game for them. I thought we were really clinical in that game.
“The Stormers put a lot more physical pressure on us. Their defensive system is pretty much identical to ours. It puts pressure on the opposition, so it does. Hence, why I was personally drawn to that system in the first place, obviously with Jacques [Nienaber] here.
“The Bulls, listen, they’re different the way they defend, but they’re a team with a tonne of Springbok experience. World Cup winners littered throughout their group. They would have learned a lot from the experience of being in a final last year.
“It was different if you think of the run-in, because it was a semi-final into a final. They’ve had a change of coaches since last year, so they will have learned from the experience.
“If you look at some of the players they’ve added, the likes of [Handré] Pollard in particular. He’s a World Cup winner and what he brings to a team. They’re a serious outfit.
“And, we’ll need to be at our best if we want to have a chance of winning the game.”
The Bulls might reflect on how last year’s URC final went for them, but Leinster have a more recent final to learn from.
Their Champions Cup loss to Bordeaux in Bilbao is still very fresh in their minds.
“I’m not sure it will be 30-odd degrees in Croke Park, you never know,” said Cullen.
“There’s lots of things from that game we can have a deeper look at next week. It’s important that we understand there’s game plan, getting ready for the battle, all the rest. There’s so many different things that we can go back to.
“It’s a good opportunity for us, making sure that we don’t waste the opportunity and we’re well-prepared going into the game. That’s about the group. There’s the whole collective, and how we go about that preparation cycle.
“This is a slightly different preparation cycle. We have that extra bit of time to work with. But, yeah, enjoy the time. It’s a great thing to have to look forward to.”
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Bulls Croke Park Final finale Leinster URC