TWENTY-TWO NIL DOWN, Handrè Pollard shaped up a kick to the corner and sent the ball dead, ending a shockingly one-sided first half with another Bulls moment of self-destruction.
Twelve months on from their no-show in last year’s decider, the Bulls were back in Croke Park and reliving the nightmare, getting utterly trampled over by a Leinster team who met the occasion with more grit, more heart and more skill.
Leinster are URC champions for the second year running and while the trophy doesn’t wipe out the scars of another disappointing chapter in their epic, ongoing Champions Cup quest, the manner of the win provided a positive finish to another slog of a season.
The rugby season is too long, the club game stretching its branches deep into a packed June calendar. By the time you’re reading this work will have already started on getting Croke Park into shape for the weekend’s GAA schedule. The Dublin footballers could well have their summer ended by Donegal here on Sunday, and Leinster had plenty of miles on the clock by the time the provincial championships were re-entering our lives.
That has fed into a notable drop in attention around Leo Cullen’s Leinster team. The diehards have stuck by, but with so many options for the floating fan attendances have dipped, even for the big European home games. There was 39,000 in Croke Park tonight. A fine turnout, but well down on the (mostly Leinster) 82,000 sell-out for last year’s Champions Cup semi-final meeting with Northampton Saints.
Leinster’s Tommy O’Brien tackled by Embrose Papier of the Bulls. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
If Leinster could play like they did tonight more often, they’d have far fewer issues putting bums on seats.
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Supporters want trophies, especially at a club like Leinster, but at the base level they just want to see a team that gives it their all.
That’s why so many of the ‘no-talent’ moments tonight were met with such hearty cheers of appreciation. Joe McCarthy working hard to rip a ball back from Bulls’ hands, lighting the fuse that sparked another purposeful Leinster attack. Garry Ringrose nailing a last-ditch cover tackle at the death, bursting a gut despite the game long being won. Sam Prendergast coming from behind to win a footrace against Stavino Jacobs and Canan Moodie, before throwing himself between ball and boot to claim possession.
This was Prendergast at his authoritative, confident best, throwing those wonderful fired passes and barking orders at his backline. The warm, extended cheer which greeted his second-half try is a truer reflection of the feeling toward the young 10 than the negative commentary found on social media.
Sam Prendergast takes a stray boot to the face. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
It’s been a challenging season for the Kildare man but slowly, the form line is tracking in the right direction again. A player who didn’t even make the matchday 23 for the Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux could now be heading into a big summer with Ireland. These are the wild highs and lows at the top end of professional sport.
Prendergast’s job here was made easier by the dominant showing from his pack. McCarthy was excellent alongside the typically industrious James Ryan in the second row. Jack Conan, on early for Caelan Doris, purposeful with every action. Josh van der Flier carried hard, bouncing bigger men to the ground.
And from that platform the backline layered on the moments of class, all of it centred around their greater clarity and speed of thought. Tommy O’Brien latched onto a dropped ball by Pollard to kick and sprint his way through for Leinster’s first try after just six minutes.
Ten minutes later, as the Bulls anticipated a Leinster lineout, Jamison Gibson-Park was quick to fling the ball toward Prendergast. The Leinster 10 put Hugo Keenan through, and Rieko Ioane added the finishing flourish with a sharp step to score. That’s the slick, clinical Leinster rugby which fans have felt has been too scarce this season.
With their tails up Leinster looked threatening on every attack, with Gibson-Park at his magnificent best. The Bulls, a side stacked with Springboks, gave a truly awful account of themselves, digging themselves into a hole with two early, careless yellow cards.
Bulls’ Kurt-Lee Arendse tackled by Joe McCarthy of Leinster. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
It took the South Africans just over an hour to get their first points on the board. Tournament organisers will be relieved to having avoided seeing a finalist nilled on the competition’s biggest day, but this was another brutal blowout. Last year the Bulls were 19-0 down at half-time and lost 32-7. Tonight, read 22-0 and 36-7.
Leinster end the year as the URC’s clear top dogs, despite stuttering through one of their most interesting seasons in recent memory. The province lost six of their 18 regular season games and in recent weeks, the pressure of their European Cup hunt bled into a series of tense, strange media dealings.
A trophy eases some of that pressure, but the bigger picture questions remain.
And this is the end of another Leinster journey, with the turnover this summer more significant than it has been for some time. Rieko Ioane is heading home, Ciarán Frawley, Will Connors and Jerry Cahir heading west, Luke McGrath and Rabah Slimani heading to France and James Lowe leaving Irish Rugby. There’s mixed feelings even in those stories, but they’ll get to toast their send-off with medals around their necks.
There’s been tough days for Leinster this season, but this was one of the good ones.
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Prendergast delivers timely performance as Leinster trample Bulls in Croke Park
TWENTY-TWO NIL DOWN, Handrè Pollard shaped up a kick to the corner and sent the ball dead, ending a shockingly one-sided first half with another Bulls moment of self-destruction.
Twelve months on from their no-show in last year’s decider, the Bulls were back in Croke Park and reliving the nightmare, getting utterly trampled over by a Leinster team who met the occasion with more grit, more heart and more skill.
Leinster are URC champions for the second year running and while the trophy doesn’t wipe out the scars of another disappointing chapter in their epic, ongoing Champions Cup quest, the manner of the win provided a positive finish to another slog of a season.
The rugby season is too long, the club game stretching its branches deep into a packed June calendar. By the time you’re reading this work will have already started on getting Croke Park into shape for the weekend’s GAA schedule. The Dublin footballers could well have their summer ended by Donegal here on Sunday, and Leinster had plenty of miles on the clock by the time the provincial championships were re-entering our lives.
That has fed into a notable drop in attention around Leo Cullen’s Leinster team. The diehards have stuck by, but with so many options for the floating fan attendances have dipped, even for the big European home games. There was 39,000 in Croke Park tonight. A fine turnout, but well down on the (mostly Leinster) 82,000 sell-out for last year’s Champions Cup semi-final meeting with Northampton Saints.
If Leinster could play like they did tonight more often, they’d have far fewer issues putting bums on seats.
Supporters want trophies, especially at a club like Leinster, but at the base level they just want to see a team that gives it their all.
That’s why so many of the ‘no-talent’ moments tonight were met with such hearty cheers of appreciation. Joe McCarthy working hard to rip a ball back from Bulls’ hands, lighting the fuse that sparked another purposeful Leinster attack. Garry Ringrose nailing a last-ditch cover tackle at the death, bursting a gut despite the game long being won. Sam Prendergast coming from behind to win a footrace against Stavino Jacobs and Canan Moodie, before throwing himself between ball and boot to claim possession.
This was Prendergast at his authoritative, confident best, throwing those wonderful fired passes and barking orders at his backline. The warm, extended cheer which greeted his second-half try is a truer reflection of the feeling toward the young 10 than the negative commentary found on social media.
It’s been a challenging season for the Kildare man but slowly, the form line is tracking in the right direction again. A player who didn’t even make the matchday 23 for the Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux could now be heading into a big summer with Ireland. These are the wild highs and lows at the top end of professional sport.
Prendergast’s job here was made easier by the dominant showing from his pack. McCarthy was excellent alongside the typically industrious James Ryan in the second row. Jack Conan, on early for Caelan Doris, purposeful with every action. Josh van der Flier carried hard, bouncing bigger men to the ground.
And from that platform the backline layered on the moments of class, all of it centred around their greater clarity and speed of thought. Tommy O’Brien latched onto a dropped ball by Pollard to kick and sprint his way through for Leinster’s first try after just six minutes.
Ten minutes later, as the Bulls anticipated a Leinster lineout, Jamison Gibson-Park was quick to fling the ball toward Prendergast. The Leinster 10 put Hugo Keenan through, and Rieko Ioane added the finishing flourish with a sharp step to score. That’s the slick, clinical Leinster rugby which fans have felt has been too scarce this season.
With their tails up Leinster looked threatening on every attack, with Gibson-Park at his magnificent best. The Bulls, a side stacked with Springboks, gave a truly awful account of themselves, digging themselves into a hole with two early, careless yellow cards.
It took the South Africans just over an hour to get their first points on the board. Tournament organisers will be relieved to having avoided seeing a finalist nilled on the competition’s biggest day, but this was another brutal blowout. Last year the Bulls were 19-0 down at half-time and lost 32-7. Tonight, read 22-0 and 36-7.
Leinster end the year as the URC’s clear top dogs, despite stuttering through one of their most interesting seasons in recent memory. The province lost six of their 18 regular season games and in recent weeks, the pressure of their European Cup hunt bled into a series of tense, strange media dealings.
A trophy eases some of that pressure, but the bigger picture questions remain.
And this is the end of another Leinster journey, with the turnover this summer more significant than it has been for some time. Rieko Ioane is heading home, Ciarán Frawley, Will Connors and Jerry Cahir heading west, Luke McGrath and Rabah Slimani heading to France and James Lowe leaving Irish Rugby. There’s mixed feelings even in those stories, but they’ll get to toast their send-off with medals around their necks.
There’s been tough days for Leinster this season, but this was one of the good ones.
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Comment Leinster Rugby Bulls Top 10 URC