A FEW YEARS ago Leo Cullen was asked for his opinion on Jim Gavin’s all-conquering Dublin team.
On the rumour mill, there had always been suggestions Gavin and Cullen swapped managerial notes, although neither man added substance to the gossip. But when Cullen stopped to comment on the Dubs, who were then on their way to six All-Irelands in a row, he may as well have been talking about his own Leinster side.
“Every team is trying to knock you off your perch,” Cullen said of Dublin. “You can’t live off your reputation. The old cliché, success makes you weak; it’s applicable to us all.”
But for a long time it didn’t seem relevant to Dublin. They won six-in-a-row. Then a few star players retired and the ones replacing them weren’t as good. They kept winning but by smaller margins.
Is this any way relevant to Leinster? It’s a different sport, after all, and there is practically a Leinster team unavailable to Cullen right now, preparing for a Six Nations weekend in Twickenham. It’d take a fool to draw any firm conclusions about eras ending.
But there are definite signs that the pack is getting closer. At their peak, no one could get near Dublin but eventually they were caught. At their peak, Leinster won 17 out of 17 games in the 2019/20 Pro14 season. A year later they lost twice, but with weakened sides, and when it came to the crunch they still managed to lift silverware.
This year they’ve also lost twice but that’s not the interesting bit.
That is what is still to come. Six of their concluding seven games in this regular season are away from home. Benetton today (kick off 12.55pm, RTE2, Premier Sports), Connacht, Ulster, Munster, Sharks and Stormers. So far this season, Leinster have travelled away three times in the URC, losing in Cardiff, beating Dragons by just a point at Rodney Parade, finding life a little more comfortable in Glasgow.
They won’t get it easy in any of their concluding seven games. Ulster, Munster, Glasgow and Edinburgh are within 10 points of them. It only takes two sides to get on a roll and before you know it, Leinster could be facing an away semi-final in either Limerick or Belfast. If they’re going to be caught, it’ll be there.
They’ve been caught before in Treviso. Joe Schmidt has nightmares about the place, losing there early in his reign, prompting one genius to wonder if the New Zealander was the right man for the Leinster gig. He fairly answered that question.
As for today’s crew, it’s a typical Cullen selection, experience mixed with youth. Six of the squad have made fewer than 20 provincial appearances; five players have played over 150 times for the club. Given the number of Benetton players ruled out because of international requirements with Italy, you expect Leinster to get the job done.
We also expect to see Jordan Larmour and Harry Byrne excite again. From 2018 right through to 2021, Larmour was involved in each of Ireland’s Six Nations campaigns, winning precisely half his 30 international caps in that tournament. This afternoon he’s in Treviso as Ireland prepare for Twickenham.
A year ago you’d have put your house on Byrne being involved in this Six Nations campaign, too. Yet, like Larmour, the last 12 months haven’t gone the way he’d have hoped. Signs of a comeback were evident when he was player of the match in Leinster’s win over Ospreys a couple of weeks ago.
You’d still expect both to come good again, to force their way into Farrell’s World Cup squad, remembering how players like Keith Earls, Andrew Trimble, Gordon D’Arcy and Tommy Bowe had a few wobbles on their way to great careers. It was matches like these, humdrum league fixtures, that made them appreciate what they were missing out on.
They found a way back. As for Leinster, they just need to find a way to keep winning because unlike a couple of years ago, if they slip up this time, there are teams waiting to take their place.
Benetton: Andries Coetzee, Lorenzo Pani, Joaquin Riera, Filippo Drago, Rhyno Smith, Tomas Albornoz, Alessandro Garbisi, Federico Zani, Corniel Els, Nahuel Tetaz, Nicola Piantella, Carl Wegner (CAPT), Matteo Meggiato, Lorenzo Cannone, Toa Halafihi
Replacements: Tomas Baravalle, Matteo Drudi, Cherif Traore, Abraham Steyn, Alessandro Izekor, Luca Petrozzi, Marco Zanon, Luca Sperandio
Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien, Jordan Larmour, Jamie Osborne, Harry Byrne, Tommy O’Brien, Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (CAPT), Peter Dooley, Seán Cronin, Thomas Clarkson, Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy, Rhys Ruddock, Scott Penny, Max Deegan
Replacements: James Tracy, Ed Byrne, Michael Ala’alatoa, Devin Toner, Dan Leavy, Cormac Foley, Rory O’Loughlin, Dave Kearney
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
