Massive shock in Dublin as Bulls dethrone URC champions Leinster
Defending champions Leinster were dramatically knocked out of the United Rugby Championship courtesy of a brilliant Bulls ambush in Dublin on Friday night. The Irish province, who were hunting down a fifth successive title in the PRO14 tournament that was rebranded the URC this year, came unstuck in a fashion frustratingly similar to how they were eclipsed 13 days earlier in the Heineken Champions Cup final by La Rochelle.
On that occasion, the French side did their utmost to disrupt and slow down the famed Leinster attack by annoying them repeatedly at the breakdown and that approach provided the vigilant Bulls with the blueprint to go and reprise that heist, adding their own South Africa flavour to that plan and taking a deserved win.
Just a single point separated the teams at the finish, the Bulls winning 27-26 in front of a crowd of 11,565, but that scoreline flattered Leinster as it was only a converted try with the clock in the red that cut the margin from eight points to one.
It was an outcome in sharp contrast to what had unfolded down the road 37 weeks ago on the opening weekend of the season. Back then, Jake White’s South Africans fell 17 points behind inside 13 Aviva Stadium minutes and played like they hadn’t got off the plane. Here, they were the complete opposite and with Johan Grobbelaar leading the charge, they lived up to White’s promise that they were in town to cause an upset.
Leinster initially started by picking up where they left off against Glasgow in last weekend’s twelve-try quarter-final rout. Some initial attacks came to nought, but a sweetly weighted kick in behind the cover from around halfway by Garry Ringrose sparked panic in the Bulls defence and it resulted in Dan Sheehan pouncing on the bobbling ball to score the ninth-minute try converted by Ross Byrne.
? Marcell Coetzee is a try-machine ?#URC | #LEIvBUL | #AllFor1 | @BlueBullsRugby pic.twitter.com/tZfkmaeDhv
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) June 10, 2022
That looked like the cue for the hosts to accelerate and put this contest to bed early but they were rudely mistaken. They might have won an early scrum penalty but the sequence of the refereeing decisions soon turned in favour of the more muscular South Africans at the breakdown.
Out-half Chris Smith landed a penalty kick before a sloppy error materialised, Canan Moodie failing to ground the ball properly over the try line with a veritable walk-in opportunity. That, though, was only a temporary Leinster reprieve as the Bulls had been playing with a penalty advantage and when play restarted with a quick tap on the five-metre line, Grobbelaar dived over for a 19th-minute try.
Smith converted and he was also accurate off the tee five minutes later when another Leinster breakdown infringement conceded territory and when the Bulls launched off the resulting lineout in the 22, their sweep ended under the posts with Marcell Coetzee scoring off Zak Burger’s pass.
The match had now been rapidly turned on its head, the Bulls leading 17-7 with Leinster looking increasingly unsettled, but that gap was reduced eight minutes later by a bit of magic from Robbie Henshaw, his team’s best player on the night.
First, he flummoxed the defence with a surprise out-the-back pass 30 metres out and then, after play had advanced to near the try line, he rejoined the attack to carry over forcibly off a ruck for a try that Byrne converted to leave just three points between the teams.
The half ended in a torrential downpour and the second period started in sunshine, a wildness that encapsulated the traditional Irish summer and also the rugby that was to initially follow. It was Caelan Doris who was credited with a penalty win on his line with the Bulls looking for a third try and the battle zone then moved down the other end where similarly no score materialised with Leinster knocking on twice.
Eventually, something gave. Josh van der Flier was pinged for a high tackle and with the Bulls trusting their assured lineout maul off the penalty to touch, they delivered a 53rd-minute penalty try off a rousing drive and a yellow card was also shown to James Ryan.
That was the prompt for the benched Johnny Sexton to try and ride to the rescue. Jimmy O’Brien tested the nerves with a clearance kick that was soon charged down by Harold Vorster and would likely have been a try had the Bulls midfielder not slipped as he gave chase for the loose ball.
“Leinster showed they are human.”
– Bulls' Jake White gave a spot-on description of the Irish province in the Friday night aftermath, something reflected in the multiple low-numbered ratings for too many Leinster players, w/@heagneyl???
#LEIvBUL #URChttps://t.co/tpFAi6GHbV— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 11, 2022
Leinster next went to touch with a 63rd-minute penalty rather than go for the posts while ten points down. Sub Ross Molony was unable to take the catch, and that malaise was quickly repeated with another penalty to the corner where Doris was the culprit at the lineout the second time around.
They persisted, though, and a move concocted from set-piece ball on halfway – with another Henshaw pass the defence breaker as Jordan Larmour cruised through a gap – ended with Rory O’Loughlin getting in at the corner for the unconverted 70th-minute try.
However, Sexton’s miss off the tee was a crucial twist. It meant that five points – not three – was the margin and a shoddy error by Molony soon permitted sub Morne Steyn to make it a two-score game again with a penalty four minutes from time. That was that, Leinster’s 80-minute plus converted try from Cian Healy a mere consolation on a night where the Bulls brilliantly upset the odds.
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
60 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
60 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
60 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
60 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
60 Go to comments