Leinster get top billing for clash with Toulouse
Munster fall short but Toulouse look vulnerable ahead of showdown against the Blues
LEINSTER are set for a boxoffice Heineken Champions Cup semi-final clash with Toulouse next Saturday, the European heavyweights getting top billing by tournament chiefs with a 3pm kick-off in Dublin. Leo Cullen’s charges booked their place in the last four with an impressive victory against Leicester at Welford Road, while five-time champions Toulouse beat Munster in a penalty shootout epic in the capital. Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle will take on Racing 92 – who have Munster-bound Mike Prendergast on the coaching ticket – in the other semifinal, which takes place next Sunday. Leinster will be back at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week to welcome Munster in the final round of the United Rugby Championship. The hosts are already assured of a home quarterfinal in the play-offs, but a wounded Munster side will be looking to secure home advantage as well.
After their heart-breaking loss to Toulouse, Johann van Graan admitted it will be a challenge to rouse his troops for their trip to the capital in a fortnight. ‘I won’t sugar-coat it. This will be one that we need to take our time with,’ said the Munster head coach.
REGRETS? Munster will have more than a few. There will be another massive European clash in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, but Johann van Graan’s squad won’t be joining the party.
It will be Leinster v Toulouse in Dublin, with a place in the Champions Cup final up for grabs.
Munster fell agonisingly short of sealing a date with their arch rivals in the capital. Instead, they will have to watch on from the couch as the Blues go in search for yet another piece of silverware to add to a trophy cabinet which is already full to the brim.
Munster will be heading back up the M7 the week after next anyway. There is the small matter of a final-round URC game against Leinster. The visitors will be going fully-loaded for it.
Securing second-place in the league standings and a home quarter-final is paramount now. Psychologically, these players will be in the doldrums for a while. By April 21, they should be straining at the leash to put one over Leinster on their home turf. Leo Cullen’s charges could well be preparing for a European final by then, so we may see a shadow side rolled out against Munster as Johnny Sexton and the rest of his fellow Ireland mates rest up for Marseille.
And Leinster are in the driving seat now. Whether Toulouse or Munster emerged from that European epic, the looming task was the same. Facing arguably the tournament’s best side at home after such an emotionally and physically draining game is a punishing assignment.
Saturday’s battle royal in Ballsbridge was the rugby equivalent of Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week. More than 100 minutes of sheer intensity decided by a penalty shootout – only the second in this tournament’s 27-year history.
What shape will Toulouse be in? Some of their heavyweight forwards were blowing a gale long before the final whistle. Leinster, meanwhile, made a huge statement with a supreme win at Welford Road. Leicester fancied a big scalp at the weekend but the visitors stormed into a 20-0 lead in the first half and, despite a spirited fightback from the Tigers, Leinster always looked in control. The final scoreline of 23-14 only told half the story. Cullen’s men were a class apart for most of the evening.
They will look at a weary Toulouse and begin to feel very confident about their chances of reaching a first final since 2018. The French giants won’t be able to inflict the same damage on Leinster’s scrum – spearheaded by Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong. They won’t command the same amount of possession. Toulouse’s stellar bench made a huge impact in the final quarter against Munster.
Once again, Leinster hold the advantage here though. They were able to call upon the likes of Cian Healy, Dan Sheehan, Joe McCarthy, Rhys Ruddock and Luke McGrath when some of the starters were tiring after the break.
Munster don’t have the same depth. They don’t have the same array of frontline internationals either. Yet there was plenty of positives in their performance last weekend. Considering that Tadhg Beirne, Gavin Coombes and Dave Kilcoyne were all injured, it was a stirring display from this young pack.
Imagine what they could achieve if Springbok giant RG Snyman finally puts two years of ACL hell behind him and realises his potential under Graham Rowntree’s watch next season? Then there’s the likes of John Hodnett and Jack O’Sullivan, who will be fit and firing next season.
All those absences allowed Josh Wycherley, Alex Kendellen and Thomas Ahern to emerge. A trio of talented young forwards with an average age of 21. The younger Wycherley brother put in a huge shift against a monstrous Toulouse pack. Kendellen has been the find of the season on the openside flank while Ahern continues to produce sparkling cameos from the bench. The Waterford-born lock has enormous potential and, whisper it, could be the best home-grown lock the province has produced since Paul O’Connell. Lofty praise, indeed.
For now, this Munster squad will enjoy some time off to recover from their last-gasp loss to the five-time champions.
Finishing the season on a high with an assault on the URC playoffs will be the target now.
However, Leinster will fancy claiming a fifth domestic title in a row as well as a record fifth European Champions Cup. Cullen and Stuart Lancaster certainly have the resources to to mount a serious challenge on both fronts again.
Either La Rochelle or Racing 92 will await them in the Marseille final. Neither side are pushovers and Leinster don’t need any reminding of the demolition job they suffered at the hands of
Ronan O’Gara’s lads in last season’s competition.
Still, they look far better equipped to match these French heavyweights now. Their pack has been transformed and the manner in which their star-studded forwards unit – featuring just one non-capped forward in Ross Molony – dominated a hefty Leicester pack was telling. Their attack is so slick these days. They have multiple threats with the carrying and offloading of Porter, Furlong, Caelan Doris or Jack Conan. Josh van der Flier is breaking tackles with regularity these days as well.
Then there’s Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe or Hugo Keenan lurking in the wide channels. Jamison Gibson Park has come of age at scrumhalf while Sexton is looking hungry for a fifth title. The Leinster captain and Healy, the veteran loosehead, are the sole survivors from the province’s maiden Heineken Cup triumph in 2009.
It was a ground-breaking victory back then. A huge result for an operation which was finally realising its vast promise. Their fifth trophy is looking like something of an inevitability. Munster remain behind, even if Saturday’s events suggest they are making ground. Leinster remain in pole position though.
It’ll take some team to stop them.