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It was a pity Leinster's invincible league campaign finished so anonymously, but they have entered the pantheon as the PRO14's greatest ever side
September 12, 2020, will go down in history as the strangest rugby final ever in Ireland. There was nothing at all odd about the sight of Leinster picking up a trophy – Saturday night’s celebration was their 11th such victory in 13 seasons. What was weird, though, was the lack of public adulation accompanying this latest Leinster PRO14 triumph.
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Previously won league honours were cheered to the rafters by adorning spectators, a combined 93,000 at recent showpieces in Glasgow and Dublin, but such was the effect of the pandemic restrictions currently in place in Ireland, you were hard-pressed to twig there was a game of magnitude taking place at the weekend.
Heading to Irish rugby HQ from the Ringsend direction, what caught the RugbyPass eye were Liverpool and Leeds jersey wearers stood outside the few watering holes open along the way, smoking cigarettes and having a natter before the TV football from England got started.
The rugby? Bar a few blue flags attached to some lamp posts as you approached the Dodder and a handful of fanatics waiting to cheer the passing team bus as it entered the Aviva, this was a showpiece robbed of the atmospheric hustle and bustle of league final day, something recorded in all its technicolour glory in the behind the scenes RugbyPass documentary on the 2018 decider featuring Leinster at the same ground.
Even the aftermath Saturday night was rather tame. It was 9.34pm when GALA’s Freed From Desire blared over the PA system as the trophy was classy lifted by departing long-serving duo, Rob Kearney and Fergus McFadden.
Incredible @leinsterrugby sealed a third consecutive title by coming from behind to beat @UlsterRugby in style ?#GuinnessPRO14 report ? https://t.co/dhvdCSwSPl
Catch all the highlights at https://t.co/2lIuc64fpF ? pic.twitter.com/sdrYoPiwHp
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) September 12, 2020
But after a follow-up blast of the Quo’s Rockin’ All Over The World, that was that. Out came the stadium crew to quickly disassemble the PRO14 trophy presentation stage and Leinster disappeared down the tunnel, their celebrations restricted to a few dressing room beers before they get back to work with Saracens due in town next Saturday for the rescheduled European quarter-final.
It was a pity Leinster’s invincible league campaign had finished so anonymously but they would rather that than nothing at all, and quite the bromance currently exists between them and the PRO14 organisers who are well aware they are the tournament’s greatest drawcard.
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“Comparisons have been made by some with the Ajax team of the 1970s and 80s where their dominance was built by a conveyor belt academy that delivered top-class players to the first team year after year,” enthused PRO14 boss Martin Anayi in the final’s digital match programme. “Leinster are arguably one of the best club sides in the world and that sets a high bar for everyone in the Guinness PRO14.”
Leinster boss Leo Cullen reciprocated when he eventually beamed in for the virtual post-match presser from the stadium bowels, chuffed that they had a title to play for given it looked for a while their campaign had terminated with the February 28 RDS destruction of Glasgow.
“Credit has to go to Guinness PRO14 organisers to get this condensed schedule out which is two pretty full-on derby games which leads into semi-final and final. It’s a nice clean end to the season, so huge amount of credit has to go to the tournament organisers. The were very proactive right from the off… it might have been easier to say, ‘We’ll cut our losses here and move onto the following season’.”
The now completed restart to the 50-week season that commenced last year in late September has enabled Leinster to enter the pantheon as the league’s greatest ever side, the unprecedented 63-game title hat-trick broken down into 50 wins, two draws and just eleven losses across the three seasons.
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It’s a consistency that is an enviable monument to rotation freshness, an ability to keep the squad ticking over in a fashion that doesn’t much affect collective performance no matter what the personnel available on any given weekend. Saturday night’s 27-5 win over Ulster provided further evidence. Talisman Johnny Sexton had epitomised so much that is good about Leinster at this business end of the tournament over the years.
Man of the match in the 2018 decider win over Scarlets, numerous PRO14 showpiece categories were topped by him coming into the 2020 final – most minutes played in finals (538), most points (76), most penalty goals (20), most conversions (8). But all those metrics mattered not a jot when it came to Cullen deciding his team would be best served by benching Sexton and starting Ross Byrne instead.
'We wish our fans and families could be here.' ??@AindriuPorter chats to @eirSport following the #GuinnessPRO14 Final win over Ulster tonight. ?#LEIvULS pic.twitter.com/zIsVLXCURa
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) September 12, 2020
By the time the 35-year-old did step into the fray on the hour, the result was already decided with Leinster dominating, 20 points to 5 clear and Ulster wishing they hadn’t poked the bear with the brilliantly taken fourth minute try that was ultimately their only score.
There will be cribs that Leinster are far too good for the PRO14 in its current guise but rather than spin that as a negative, their hegemony should be embraced as a positive and their high standard something rivals should aspire to rather than complain about.
Their latest title triumph now beautifully sets the scene for next weekend, the juggernaut collision of the PRO14’s new hat-trick champions and Saracens, winners of the English Premiership in four of the five past seasons and reigning European champions whose reputation has been tarnished by the grubby salary cap scandal.
It’s one not to be missed – even though you will again be hard pressed again to twig a game of magnitude is taking place at an empty stadium pining for its raucous celebration days of old.
Leo Cullen's Invincibles go marching on ? https://t.co/624IRbw2Ll
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 12, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Sabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
1 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
36 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
36 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
36 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
9 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments