Leinster had the nous to edge a cagey Champions Cup final that looked to be heading for extra time until Racing 92 crackedRacing’s players ran on to the pitch wearing berets, a nod to the host city that is regarded as the capital of the Basque region. They did the same 31 years ago when playing a Top 14 match in Bayonne, a period when some of the club’s players formed the Eden Park leisure clothing brand. When they faced Brive in April 1987, they took to the field in blazers and pink bow ties, and they sported harem pants the following week against Toulouse.They were known then as the showbiz kids but a cup final comes under the factual...
This year there will be no distractions as the European champions attempt to regain the domestic crown from last season’s surprise packageThis time last year Wasps and Munster had just finished ahead of the rest of the Premiership and Pro 12 respectively and had every reason to believe they could translate that success into silverware. Three weeks later they watched Exeter and Scarlets lift the two trophies instead, a harsh reminder of the sizeable difference between the marathon regular season and the play‑off sprint.That crucially important lesson will not be lost on this year’s table toppers – Exeter, Glasgow and Leinster – all of whom appreciate that nine months of relentless toil can quite easily be undermined in the sunshine of May....
It will take a monumental effort in the final from Racing 92 to deny Leinster victory in a Champions Cup that feels seminal, if certainly not vintageIt has not been a vintage Champions Cup by any stretch but after a weekend of deep intensity, if little in the way of edge‑of‑the‑seat excitement, it is hard to escape the sense it is a seminal one. Since Leinster last sat at the head of the European table, Toulon and Saracens have both taken their turns but they are marching back with a blend of power and precision that suggests they will take some shifting.It will require an almighty effort from Racing 92 to deny them in Bilbao next month and while the...
Leo Cullen’s side’s dominance over Scarlets was total, and an all-Ireland final against Munster now feels inevitable – and highly appropriateThe grip of the Irish on European rugby tightens ever more mercilessly. Ireland won the grand slam on the back of scorelines that did not quite reflect their dominance, but the opposition are now starting to unravel as that dominance deepens.The Scarlets had the last word, Tadhg Beirne, schooled by Leinster, galloping home before he returns home next season, albeit to Munster, but if that represented appropriate reward for the visitors it was reward for a campaign that has lit up this competition, not for their contribution to this match. They felt as comprehensively beaten as any semi-finalist of this...
The provinces and their exploits in Europe inspired radical restructuring in Wales but finance and player development hold the regions backLeinster meet the Scarlets in the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. The ground will be full, as it would be were its capacity closer to Twickenham’s 82,000 than below 52,000. Irish rugby is where the game in Wales aspires to be and Europe was the vehicle that drove them there.Leinster used the old Lansdowne Road in the early years of the then Heineken Cup in the second half of the 1990s. When they took on Leicester there in 1996, a crowd of 3,500 turned up; in the same year, Munster attracted 1,500 to...