LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen could be left with some selection headaches for the Champions Cup final after his side finished out their URC regular season campaign in fine style at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Needing a win to seal a second place finish in the final standings – and earn themselves at least two home games in the knockout phases, if they get past an upcoming quarter-final encounter with the Lions – title holders Leinster registered 10 tries on their way to recording a 68-14 triumph over Ospreys at Irish Rugby HQ.
A number of those who featured either as starters or replacements on the weekend just gone are expected to make the match day 23 for this Saturday’s Champions Cup decider against defending champions Bordeaux Begles in Bilbao. There are others who may well miss out despite producing some impressive form in recent weeks, but Cullen stressed this is ‘the name of the game’ at the highest level.
“The 23 that get picked will deserve to get picked because they’ve clearly showcased some real quality over the course of the seasons, recent weeks. There will be guys upset about the selection I think, because I know that means a hell of a lot to them. Not easy, but that’s what you want as well,” Cullen said after Saturday’s game.
“You’d be worried if there was nobody disappointed about not being involved. It’s the name of the game unfortunately. It’s a positive for the group.
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“The group just needs to work together there and listen, they’ve been fantastic to work with during the course of the season. There’s a good vibe in the group at the moment, so we just need to keep going then. It hasn’t been straightforward always, but we’re getting there.”
Coming into Saturday’s game with just three in total to his name from 34 previous appearances in the competition, Ireland international Joe McCarthy doubled his URC try-scoring tally with a hat-trick against the Ospreys. He also hadn’t been on the scoresheet for Leinster in the current season, but after breaking the deadlock in the fourth minute, the lock went on to cross over either side of the third-quarter mark.
Forwards getting themselves into space in attack was a notable feature of the home team’s play on Saturday with the back-row pair of Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier combining to good effect early on, before also linking up for the latter’s try on the stroke of 20 minutes.
Josh van der Flier. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
“I think the forwards were punching really well. Jack [Conan] and Josh [van der Flier] are so good at working back and getting their hands on the ball. Their acceleration is unreal,” McCarthy explained while sitting beside Cullen in a post-match press conference.
“Jack was making a few line breaks in training. He’s a smart rugby player. He always gets his hands in the right position. I think it was positive in our attack anyway. We were punching quite well, so holes were opening up.”
Although he didn’t make the match day squad for Leinster’s defeat to La Rochelle in the Aviva back in 2023, McCarthy came off the bench as the eastern province lost out to the same side in a Champions Cup final 12 months earlier and started at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024 for a third consecutive European showpiece reversal against Toulouse.
Yet another Top 14 outfit in the form of Bordeaux awaits them at San Mamés Stadium this coming Saturday and McCarthy offered a sense of how Leinster are going to approach their latest quest for a fifth star.
Connections
“It feels like a great vibe in the group. The connections in the group are tighter than what I’ve ever felt. I think it just feels really good. I think everyone is just talking about, we’re just going to attack this game, properly go at it,” McCarthy added.
“Give it our all and we’re sort of saying we’re going to need to work hard during the week. Prepare well, do our video and everything, but we want to really enjoy the week. Just love the preparation, love the time together. We just want to attack and give our best performance. I think that’s all we can do.”
Along with McCarthy, it is anticipated Harry Byrne will be included in the starting line-up against Bordeaux in five days’ time. He was treated on the field in the opening half on Saturday before being replaced by Ciarán Frawley at the interval, but Cullen doesn’t believe there is a major issue for the fly-half.
The Wicklow man had also said something similar before the game about Tommy O’Brien – who picked up a knock on Thursday and was ultimately replaced late on in the first 15 by James Lowe for his first competitive outing in almost three months.
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'The 23 that get picked will deserve to get picked'
LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen could be left with some selection headaches for the Champions Cup final after his side finished out their URC regular season campaign in fine style at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Needing a win to seal a second place finish in the final standings – and earn themselves at least two home games in the knockout phases, if they get past an upcoming quarter-final encounter with the Lions – title holders Leinster registered 10 tries on their way to recording a 68-14 triumph over Ospreys at Irish Rugby HQ.
A number of those who featured either as starters or replacements on the weekend just gone are expected to make the match day 23 for this Saturday’s Champions Cup decider against defending champions Bordeaux Begles in Bilbao. There are others who may well miss out despite producing some impressive form in recent weeks, but Cullen stressed this is ‘the name of the game’ at the highest level.
“The 23 that get picked will deserve to get picked because they’ve clearly showcased some real quality over the course of the seasons, recent weeks. There will be guys upset about the selection I think, because I know that means a hell of a lot to them. Not easy, but that’s what you want as well,” Cullen said after Saturday’s game.
“You’d be worried if there was nobody disappointed about not being involved. It’s the name of the game unfortunately. It’s a positive for the group.
“The group just needs to work together there and listen, they’ve been fantastic to work with during the course of the season. There’s a good vibe in the group at the moment, so we just need to keep going then. It hasn’t been straightforward always, but we’re getting there.”
Coming into Saturday’s game with just three in total to his name from 34 previous appearances in the competition, Ireland international Joe McCarthy doubled his URC try-scoring tally with a hat-trick against the Ospreys. He also hadn’t been on the scoresheet for Leinster in the current season, but after breaking the deadlock in the fourth minute, the lock went on to cross over either side of the third-quarter mark.
Forwards getting themselves into space in attack was a notable feature of the home team’s play on Saturday with the back-row pair of Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier combining to good effect early on, before also linking up for the latter’s try on the stroke of 20 minutes.
“I think the forwards were punching really well. Jack [Conan] and Josh [van der Flier] are so good at working back and getting their hands on the ball. Their acceleration is unreal,” McCarthy explained while sitting beside Cullen in a post-match press conference.
“Jack was making a few line breaks in training. He’s a smart rugby player. He always gets his hands in the right position. I think it was positive in our attack anyway. We were punching quite well, so holes were opening up.”
Although he didn’t make the match day squad for Leinster’s defeat to La Rochelle in the Aviva back in 2023, McCarthy came off the bench as the eastern province lost out to the same side in a Champions Cup final 12 months earlier and started at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024 for a third consecutive European showpiece reversal against Toulouse.
Yet another Top 14 outfit in the form of Bordeaux awaits them at San Mamés Stadium this coming Saturday and McCarthy offered a sense of how Leinster are going to approach their latest quest for a fifth star.
Connections
“It feels like a great vibe in the group. The connections in the group are tighter than what I’ve ever felt. I think it just feels really good. I think everyone is just talking about, we’re just going to attack this game, properly go at it,” McCarthy added.
“Give it our all and we’re sort of saying we’re going to need to work hard during the week. Prepare well, do our video and everything, but we want to really enjoy the week. Just love the preparation, love the time together. We just want to attack and give our best performance. I think that’s all we can do.”
Along with McCarthy, it is anticipated Harry Byrne will be included in the starting line-up against Bordeaux in five days’ time. He was treated on the field in the opening half on Saturday before being replaced by Ciarán Frawley at the interval, but Cullen doesn’t believe there is a major issue for the fly-half.
The Wicklow man had also said something similar before the game about Tommy O’Brien – who picked up a knock on Thursday and was ultimately replaced late on in the first 15 by James Lowe for his first competitive outing in almost three months.
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