Four issues Leinster need to fix to close Champions Cup gap

Leinster’s latest Champions Cup final loss, a galling 41-19 dismantling by Bordeaux, felt like more than just another near miss. There is a growing sense the gap to the very top of the European game is widening, not dramatically, but decisively enough to matter.

Six straight titles for French clubs has sharpened that perception. Leinster are not miles off – they made the final for goodness sake – but finals are not won on proximity.

We look at three positional areas that need work.

Propping problems
This has been a work on for Leinster, and Irish rugby more broadly, for years. And it still hasn’t been fully solved.

Leinster continue to struggle to produce consistently dominant, proven scrummagers. They get the job done against mid-to-low table URC sides, but when they step up into Champions Cup knock-out territory, things start to creak.

Against Bordeaux, it was exposed again.

The obviously talented Tom Clarkson looks like a long-term answer and is clearly viewed as part of the future, but he had a difficult outing in the final. 33-year-old Tadhg Furlong’s introduction improved things, particularly at the set-piece, but even that comes with caveats. Furlong has never quite looked fully right since the turf toe injury that derailed him, and the accumulation of lower leg issues in recent years has taken its toll.

There is increasing noise around Andrew Porter potentially shifting back across to tighthead. With a pipeline of young looseheads coming through, Porter may yet end up as Furlong’s long-term successor.

Defensive rethink
It would be overly reductive to look at Leinster’s defence and call it a weakness, but the numbers do show a marginal slide. Leinster conceded just 256 points in the 2024/25 URC season. That figure has risen to 370 this year, representing a five-year high for the Irish province. Admittedly, it’s the third lowest in the league behind the Stormers and Glasgow, but it’s still trending in the wrong direction.

Context matters, and the game is undeniably moving towards higher-scoring contests, but even allowing for that, there is a sense Leinster could be more efficient… more stingy.

Leinster’s isn’t a defensive horror show. Far from it. But for a side coached by Jacques Nienaber, touted as one of the leading defensive minds in the game, there is an expectation that Leinster should be setting the standard.

In the 30-degree heat of Bilbao, it was stress tested and it failed.

Midfield muddle
There is something undeniably impressive about Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose still anchoring Leinster’s midfield at this level. They started together in the 2018 final. Eight years on, they were back in the same roles. That speaks volumes about their quality and longevity.

But the flip side is unavoidable. It is a partnership that is starting to look weather-worn and a little frayed around the edges. Increasingly, it feels more prophylactic than destructive, more about preventing than creating.

That is in part a reflection of how the game has evolved. But Leinster still need a succession plan that tilts the balance back towards threat.

Their midfield has arguably looked at its most dynamic when supplemented – Jordie Barrett being the obvious example. Admittedly, Rieko Ioane, though serviceable, has not quite delivered the impact many expected. Will Cullen look to inject some more imported star power next season?

Homegrown Jamie Osborne is being drip-fed in, but just five of his 14 starts this season have come at 12. The transition is happening, but it’s still conceivable that he could end up as a fullback.

The No.10 jersey
If there is one area that feels genuinely unresolved, it is out-half. Leinster’s 10 situation has become a revolving door.

Until recently Ireland’s first choice, Sam Prendergast’s erratic form domestically and at Test level has seen him lose the jersey, while Harry Byrne’s steadier output has seen him claim possession of the Leinster 10 shirt for the first time in his career after he returned from Bristol last year with a pep in his step.

A frustrated Ciaran Frawley, used across the backline and rarely given a sustained run at 10, is now leaving for Connacht, despite Leinster’s stated desire to keep him. In the context of his form, that looks like a poor piece of retention, particularly with many viewing him as the most rounded option currently available.

And then there is Joey Carbery.

Finding himself stuck behind Johnny Sexton, Carbery left Leinster for Munster in 2018 in search of more playing time at 10. Eight years on, Leinster are searching for a fix in the position. Do they persist with the problematic Project Prendergast, hand Harry another season at the wheel or give Carbery the reins he so badly wanted eight years ago?

Does it feel so far-fetched that the prodigal son reclaims the jersey he once wanted so badly? Hardly.