LEINSTER HAD SIX genuine stints of possession in the Ulster 22 last weekend and came away with points on four of those occasions.
Leo Cullen’s men will be keen to ensure that return moves closer to 100% in the Guinness Pro12 final against Connacht on Saturday but their effectiveness in the Ulster 22 at the RDS spoke volumes about their general performance.
Sexton and co. were at their most aggressive last weekend. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Moving into knock-out rugby, the likes of Eoin Reddan, Isa Nacewa, Jamie Heaslip, Jack McGrath and Devin Toner were superb within a simple game plan. Johnny Sexton, meanwhile, underlined that he is still the very best. His performance was world-class.
Aggression, accuracy, and defensive work rate were the core pillars in the victory over Ulster and it’s almost certain that Leinster will look to a similar formula against Pat Lam’s Connacht.
Ulster had close to 60% of both the territory and possession at the RDS, but couldn’t make it count. Leinster, on the other hand, were more clinical than they have been all season. Promising signs for the Pro12 final favourites.
Sexton masterclass
Sexton’s control of the game against Ulster was a timely reminder that few players can challenge his grasp of game management when he is on form. If he hits this level again on Saturday, Connacht’s chances of victory will drop rapidly.
The 30-year-old has a deep understanding of the tempo and flow of games, knowing when his side need to move forward through a kick or by running at the opposition. His relative calmness in possession allows him to make good decisions in both regards.
He gave a kicking masterclass against Ulster, with a 100% return off the tee and a number of sublime kicks out of hand.
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Sky Sports
As early as the third minute last weekend, Sexton produces a superb kick, dinking this effort over the Ulster frontline defence with the outside of his right foot into a narrow pocket of space.
An Ulster lineout ensues, after which Ruan Pienaar makes a poor exiting attempt, and Leinster eventually score the opening try having regained possession.
Invariably, Sexton’s clever kicking game led to a positive return for his team, either on the scoreboard or by challenging Ulster’s grasp of momentum at crucial points.
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Sky Sports
The above example gives us an insight into the tactical thinking of Sexton and Leinster.
The kick occurs in the 34th minute, after Ulster have scored two penalties to bring themselves back to 13-6 after a rocky opening 25 minutes. Les Kiss’ side have been enjoying extended periods of territory and possession, so Sexton wants to take some of the sting out of them.
Garry Ringrose is sent carrying the ball in midfield from the first phase of a lineout attack, after which Leinster are perfectly set up for a pre-planned kick.
The initial attack into midfield from left to right has drawn Ulster’s pendulum defence across the pitch, with fullback Jared Payne covering behind Craig Gilroy as he joins the frontline, and then Andrew Trimble slides across from right to left in the backfield.
We can see the movement in the image above, even if Payne is offscreen. The fullback’s movement from right to left [indicated by the blue arrow] as Gilroy joins the frontline means Trimble initially has to cover across as part of that pendulum movement [red arrow].
However, as Leinster switch play back against the grain, Trimble is now tracking back across trying to make up ground [yellow]. The space to his right is wide open for Sexton.
Around Sexton, we can the Leinster set-up that allows him time to pick out that space deep to his left.
Mick Kearney has come around the corner from the initial lineout to decoy a carry off Reddan [purple arrow]. To the left of the scrum-half as he bounces back are Heaslip, Toner and Mike Ross offering hard-carrying options [red].
Out on the left, Richardt Strauss, Rhys Ruddock and Luke Fitzgerald [yellow circles] are providing the wide option for Sexton when he receives the ball, with McGrath [blue] giving him a potential screen or the chance to hit the ball up with a short pass.
Like their entire game plan, it’s simple and effective from Leinster, allowing Sexton to pick out the space. As with all the best plays off set-piece, there’s more than one option for Sexton here but the primary one in this instance is the kick.
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Sky Sports
Again, the out-half provides a delightful touch with the boot to find grass and roll the ball into touch. The technical side of the skill is perfect here from Sexton, perhaps most importantly of all.
His calmness is apparent as he drops the ball straight down, keeps his eyes focused on the point of contact and delivers the perfect weighting. He’s not blasting through the ball, instead providing something like a three-quarter swing as he calibrates the distance required.
We go back to the thinking behind the selection of this play by Sexton and Leinster.
Ulster have had so much territory and possession. They’re grabbing momentum of this game and we need to get control of it back. Let’s play in their 22 for now, even if it means handing possession back to them.
Ulster do, of course, manage to score a try before half time – rugby games are ever-changing beasts – but this snippet is an excellent example of what Sexton looks to do with his kicking game.
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Sky Sports
The stunning effort above – into an extremely small pocket of space – eventually ended up with Leinster scoring three points after a scrum penalty, while the kick below sparked the period of intense pressure that ended with Leinster’s third try through Sean Cronin.
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Sky Sports
Connacht’s back three – so superb in this campaign – are likely to be tested like never before on Saturday by Sexton’s kicking game.
The most threatening aspect is that if Tiernan O’Halloran, Niyi Adeolokun and Matt Healy overcompensate in covering the deep spaces, Sexton has the vision and passing game to launch attacks with ball in hand.
Bailing out
While Sexton’s kicking performance was a masterclass, Reddan at scrum-half was similarly effective with his use of the boot.
He kicked nine times overall against Ulster and in many of those instances allowed his chasers to either regain possession or apply major pressure to Ulster’s fielders.
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Sky Sports
Again, the tone is set early as Luke Fitzgerald superbly retrieves this second-minute box kick by Reddan.
Throughout this game, Reddan generally got four seconds or slightly more of hang time on his kicks while dropping them 20 metres beyond the kick point. That, roughly, is the ideal criteria for a retrievable box kick and Fitzgerald shows as much above.
The left wing doesn’t actually beat Andrew Trimble’s hands to the ball but he’s in the air, physically competing against his fellow Ireland international and forcing the error. Leinster are away onto the attack.
The results weren’t always as positive as this for Leinster against Ulster, but the quality of the kicking from Reddan and the aggressive nature of the chase meant Cullen’s men very, very rarely gave the visitors an invitation to immediately attack back at them.
Key for Connacht in combating Leinster’s kicking game is obviously the quality of their fielding, but also the work of the players in front of the ball in shielding the fielder.
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Sky Sports
We get one fine illustration of the importance of that ‘tracking’ or ‘shepherding’ work from Ulster in the example above.
We note that it’s a clean catch from Payne in this instance, even if he is immediately tackled by Nacewa, but only the clever off-the-ball play of Craig Gilroy ensures that Payne does not have a one-on-one contest in the air.
Nacewa is the primary chase for Leinster, as indicated with the yellow arrow above, but when we examine the clip a little more closely we can see that Gilroy actually turns on a little burst of acceleration to ensure he crosses paths with Nacewa [red].
The two players collide and Nacewa shoves Gilroy hard to let him know he’s not too happy to have been impeded.
Interestingly, referee Ian Davies actually calls up Ulster lock Peter Browne for his attempt at a tracking block in this instance, which is highlighted below.
Brown just steps into Heaslip’s chasing line here, not managing to close him off completely but ever so slightly nudging him off course.
“Let’s not go there four [Browne's shirt number], please, ok?” says Davies as he moves past the Ulster lock.
Whatever about Browne’s actions, the work of Gilroy is absolutely key to ensuring Payne can get off the ground and win the ball cleanly before being tackled.
It’s one of the ‘fine margins’ that are so vital in the modern game and Connacht’s back three will need their team-mates to be subtly effective in front of the ball as they look to field it on Saturday.
Defensive grit
Leinster did give up two tries against Ulster, which they’ll be disappointed about and have analysed in some depth, but their defensive performance last weekend was excellent overall.
That’s one of the aspects that fascinates most ahead of Saturday’s final – how will the best attack in the league, Connacht’s, fare against the leading defence in the competition?
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Sky Sports
With Kurt McQuilkin having returned as defence coach, Leinster have genuinely enjoyed defending this season. They relish the opportunity to attack the opposition with their defence.
While they are not a perfect defensive team – so side is – they work particularly hard for each other, meaning that when they are stretched or cut apart, they have a good habit of regathering and regaining some control.
We get a fine example of that ability to rebound after the breakout from Iain Henderson below.
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Sky Sports
The freakish Ulsterman strips the ball from Jack McGrath and bounds away into the Leinster half like a runaway wildman, but Nacewa makes a superb covering tackle as he tracks inside from Leinster’s right.
Nonetheless, Ulster are in a superb position here, flooding onto the ball against a Leinster team that is taken by surprise.
We often talk of the ‘transition’ phase in rugby in terms of defence changing into attack with turnover ball, but Leinster handle the opposite transition very well. Their mindset instantly focuses on surviving and then thriving in defence.
Ulster make gains down the left after Henderson’s carry, but on the very next phase Leinster eat back metres with excellent linespeed led by Reddan and concluding with a firm McGrath hit on Sean Reidy.
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Sky Sports
Three phases later, with Leinster’s defensive shape now calm and collected, we see McGrath involved again as he looks to win those metres for a second time.
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Sky Sports
This time, McGrath opts for a wrestling-style tackle, dipping into the repertoire of techniques McQuilkin has helped to develop and finding the ideal solution. Rhys Ruddock ploughs in to aid the collision victory, then bounces back to his feet for more.
Another seven phases of energy-sapping defence later, McGrath is involved again – he’s made a tackle and poach attempt in the meantime – as he teams up with Jordi Murphy for the hit of the night.
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Sky Sports
Murphy takes Browne’s legs away as McGrath hammers into his chest, then we can see that Murphy fights up to his feet and attempts to barge over the ball. He doesn’t make a major impact but that second action was typical of his incredible work rate last weekend.
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Sky Sports
Another two phases later, Leinster finally get the turnover their effort has earned.
With Ulster moving backwards, even Henderson appears uncertain and he’s standing still as Leinster race up again. McGrath is the man to smash into a hit that Heaslip completes, before maintaining his feet as Chris Henry flops to ground on the clearout attempt.
Mike Ross drags another clearing Ulster player, Payne, away from the tackle point and Heaslip is able to pounce over the ball and force a penalty.
These are snapshots of Leinster’s defence, but this was perhaps the key passage of the game. Henderson’s break followed relatively soon after Gilroy’s try on the stroke of half time and could have been the catalyst for a complete shift of control.
McQuilkin’s men dug in, however, and showed their work rate and technical quality in contact to recover and thrive in defence. Certainly, there are issues to be reviewed after conceding two tries to Ulster – one on account of a poor effort to fold to the short side and another due to a defensive misread from Ian Madigan.
They will face a different test against Connacht’s intelligent set-piece strikes and 2-4-2 shape in phase play, but Leinster come into this contest with utter belief in their defence. Crucially, they will be excited about the prospect of shutting down the lauded Connacht attack.
Brute ruck force
Another fine illustration of Leinster’s aggression within a simple game plan was the quality of their rucking against Ulster.
Cullen’s fired-up side hammered rucks with venom, particularly in the opposition 22, ensuring that Ulster were kept moving rapidly in defence.
Leinster’s attacking game plan with ball in hand didn’t involve much in the way of multiple passes per phase or major width, but it was certainly effective. It was one-out rugby much of the time, but one-out rugby done well.
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Sky Sports
The clip above begins with something of a missed opportunity for Leinster. They move the ball through Sexton to Te’o and there’s a chance on the outside edge.
Te’o manages to fix Trimble, sitting him down, but then doesn’t release the pre-contact pass to Nacewa that would allow the fullback and Fitzgerald into a two-on-one with Paddy Jackson on the edge of Ulster’s frontline defence. A work-on for certain.
Our main focus is on the ruck work of Heaslip after Te’o carries the ball, however.
Heaslip engages Trimble to the right-hand side and clears him deep beyond the ball to open up a channel of space for Ringrose to dart into after he scoops the ball up.
Ringrose takes advantage of the gap opened by Heaslip’s work and attempts to wriggle under the tackle of Ricky Lutton but he’s grounded.
Heaslip is then on hand to drive a right shoulder into Lutton to ensure he has no thoughts of subtly attempting to slow Leinster’s possession. Away they go to the left after a two-second ruck.
Leinster’s tempo in the Ulster 22 was very high last weekend and the stress that creates on the defence eventually told in this particular passage, which originated with Pienaar’s poor box kick.
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Sky Sports
Fitzgerald carries to the right of a ruck on 13th phase and we see more of Leinster’s good clearout work.
Ringrose is the first man to arrive and he does well to initially ensure that Henry doesn’t get a clean jackal. Mick Kearney thumps tackler Callum Black away from the ball and then Toner arrives in to smash Henry fully clear and open the back of the ruck for Reddan.
With the repeated speed of ruck and high tempo catching up on their defence, Ulster have become very narrow on their left-hand side of the ruck.
Reddan does superbly to take full advantage of that fact, firing a long pass across the face of Dave Kearney, whose run attracts Luke Marshall inwards.
Gilroy, having been caught narrow, will have been disappointed with his tackle attempt on Nacewa, and the same applies to Payne in behind.
Our focus here, however, is the quality of Leinster’s ruck work. It was one of the major themes of their attacking display against Ulster and ensured that even a straightforward and possibly ‘predictable’ game plan was extremely effective.
There are few sides as clever as Leinster around the ruck, as we see in the instance below.
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Sky Sports
It’s worth pointing out that the penalty here comes on the end of three simple, direct carries off a lineout platform by Ben Te’o, Ringrose and Kearney. Nothing complicated, but a combination of aggression, footwork and power gets them beyond the gainline each time.
McGrath identifies his opportunity after Kearney hammers into the soak tackle of Henry, with the loosehead prop actually driving the Ulster back row into the ruck and deliberately trapping him with his knees.
Referee Davies buys the move and penalises Henry for not rolling away.
It’s cynical and takes advantage of referees’ seemingly insatiable desire to penalise players for not rolling away, but McGrath is simply earning points for his side here. Sexton slots the penalty for a 10-0 Leinster lead.
This specific type of example is obviously relatively rare, but it underlines how Leinster push the limits cleverly around the ruck in order to gain an advantage.
From going deep beyond the ball, trapping players and pushing up on outside edge to impede folding defenders, they have long been masters of these dark arts and Cullen will have been encouraged to see his men pushing the limits.
Connacht will have to match and better Leinster’s aggression and shrewdness over the tackle in Edinburgh.
Glimpses of genius
Underestimating Leinster’s ability to spark in attack beyond one-out rugby would, of course, be foolish of Connacht.
Cullen’s side possesses a number of players capable of excelling in less structured situations and that much was underlined by the excellent Heaslip try last weekend.
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Sky Sports
It comes on fifth phase after an initial lineout drive – Leinster’s set-piece work will be a major test of Connacht’s quality – and Ringrose’s dancing feet get the real thrust of the attack going.
The 21-year-old is perhaps under-lauded in defence, where his good reads are often backed up with impacts that show he can punch above his weight, but moments like this in attack are what truly excite the majority of Leinster fans.
With nothing on to that right-hand side of the ruck, and a wall of defenders in front of him, Ringrose steps sharply back to the left, benefiting from Strauss’ little block on Henry.
Suddenly, Ringrose has time to dart to the left side of the original ruck and draw Browne in enough to give Sexton time on the ball. Ringrose ships a huge hit from Browne for his trouble, but Leinster are now in a brilliant scoring situation.
Sexton draws Rory Best superbly before releasing Te’o, and typically continues to move upfield to provide a potential support line inside his powerful centre.
In the situation above, many players would pass to Fitzgerald on the touchline, but Te’o appears to be concerned that Trimble will drift back off him and bundle the Leinster wing into touch.
Whatever about his decision-making, the future England international makes his call the right one by pulling off a sensational one-handed offload as he lures both Trimble and Pienaar inside into tackling him.
Not too many players have the confidence, core strength or grip to take on an offload like this one.
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Sky Sports
Te’o nails it, however, and 85kg Jackson has very little chance of halting 110kg Heaslip from close range.
Big bad Leinster
Leinster are favourites for this Pro12 final on account of their knock-out history, array of experienced Test stars and the effectiveness of their play.
Last weekend was the prime demonstration this season that Cullen’s side are still capable of superb performances. There have been doubts on the outside but Leinster themselves responded brilliantly to Sexton’s recent rallying call.
They have not been hitting their previously-exceptional standards for much of this season, but last weekend there were hints of glory days gone by in Leinster’s performance.
Gritty defence, ruthlessness at the ruck, an intelligent and smothering kicking game, accuracy in core skills like carrying and rucking, we well as snippets of creativity in attack.
If Leinster can repeat, or better, their performance in Saturday’s final, then Connacht’s fairytale may well have an unhappy ending.
With a trophy on the line at Murrayfield and a score to settle after the 7-6 defeat in Galway in March, Sexton and co. would take utter pleasure in re-asserting their position as top dogs in Ireland.
Footage courtesy of Sky Sports, who will broadcast the Guinness Pro12 final on Sky Sports 3 from 5pm on Saturday.
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Analysis: Sexton's mastery and brilliant basics provide Leinster's edge
LEINSTER HAD SIX genuine stints of possession in the Ulster 22 last weekend and came away with points on four of those occasions.
Leo Cullen’s men will be keen to ensure that return moves closer to 100% in the Guinness Pro12 final against Connacht on Saturday but their effectiveness in the Ulster 22 at the RDS spoke volumes about their general performance.
Moving into knock-out rugby, the likes of Eoin Reddan, Isa Nacewa, Jamie Heaslip, Jack McGrath and Devin Toner were superb within a simple game plan. Johnny Sexton, meanwhile, underlined that he is still the very best. His performance was world-class.
Aggression, accuracy, and defensive work rate were the core pillars in the victory over Ulster and it’s almost certain that Leinster will look to a similar formula against Pat Lam’s Connacht.
Ulster had close to 60% of both the territory and possession at the RDS, but couldn’t make it count. Leinster, on the other hand, were more clinical than they have been all season. Promising signs for the Pro12 final favourites.
Sexton masterclass
Sexton’s control of the game against Ulster was a timely reminder that few players can challenge his grasp of game management when he is on form. If he hits this level again on Saturday, Connacht’s chances of victory will drop rapidly.
The 30-year-old has a deep understanding of the tempo and flow of games, knowing when his side need to move forward through a kick or by running at the opposition. His relative calmness in possession allows him to make good decisions in both regards.
He gave a kicking masterclass against Ulster, with a 100% return off the tee and a number of sublime kicks out of hand.
As early as the third minute last weekend, Sexton produces a superb kick, dinking this effort over the Ulster frontline defence with the outside of his right foot into a narrow pocket of space.
An Ulster lineout ensues, after which Ruan Pienaar makes a poor exiting attempt, and Leinster eventually score the opening try having regained possession.
Invariably, Sexton’s clever kicking game led to a positive return for his team, either on the scoreboard or by challenging Ulster’s grasp of momentum at crucial points.
The above example gives us an insight into the tactical thinking of Sexton and Leinster.
The kick occurs in the 34th minute, after Ulster have scored two penalties to bring themselves back to 13-6 after a rocky opening 25 minutes. Les Kiss’ side have been enjoying extended periods of territory and possession, so Sexton wants to take some of the sting out of them.
Garry Ringrose is sent carrying the ball in midfield from the first phase of a lineout attack, after which Leinster are perfectly set up for a pre-planned kick.
The initial attack into midfield from left to right has drawn Ulster’s pendulum defence across the pitch, with fullback Jared Payne covering behind Craig Gilroy as he joins the frontline, and then Andrew Trimble slides across from right to left in the backfield.
We can see the movement in the image above, even if Payne is offscreen. The fullback’s movement from right to left [indicated by the blue arrow] as Gilroy joins the frontline means Trimble initially has to cover across as part of that pendulum movement [red arrow].
However, as Leinster switch play back against the grain, Trimble is now tracking back across trying to make up ground [yellow]. The space to his right is wide open for Sexton.
Around Sexton, we can the Leinster set-up that allows him time to pick out that space deep to his left.
Mick Kearney has come around the corner from the initial lineout to decoy a carry off Reddan [purple arrow]. To the left of the scrum-half as he bounces back are Heaslip, Toner and Mike Ross offering hard-carrying options [red].
Out on the left, Richardt Strauss, Rhys Ruddock and Luke Fitzgerald [yellow circles] are providing the wide option for Sexton when he receives the ball, with McGrath [blue] giving him a potential screen or the chance to hit the ball up with a short pass.
Like their entire game plan, it’s simple and effective from Leinster, allowing Sexton to pick out the space. As with all the best plays off set-piece, there’s more than one option for Sexton here but the primary one in this instance is the kick.
Again, the out-half provides a delightful touch with the boot to find grass and roll the ball into touch. The technical side of the skill is perfect here from Sexton, perhaps most importantly of all.
His calmness is apparent as he drops the ball straight down, keeps his eyes focused on the point of contact and delivers the perfect weighting. He’s not blasting through the ball, instead providing something like a three-quarter swing as he calibrates the distance required.
We go back to the thinking behind the selection of this play by Sexton and Leinster.
Ulster have had so much territory and possession. They’re grabbing momentum of this game and we need to get control of it back. Let’s play in their 22 for now, even if it means handing possession back to them.
Ulster do, of course, manage to score a try before half time – rugby games are ever-changing beasts – but this snippet is an excellent example of what Sexton looks to do with his kicking game.
The stunning effort above – into an extremely small pocket of space – eventually ended up with Leinster scoring three points after a scrum penalty, while the kick below sparked the period of intense pressure that ended with Leinster’s third try through Sean Cronin.
Connacht’s back three – so superb in this campaign – are likely to be tested like never before on Saturday by Sexton’s kicking game.
The most threatening aspect is that if Tiernan O’Halloran, Niyi Adeolokun and Matt Healy overcompensate in covering the deep spaces, Sexton has the vision and passing game to launch attacks with ball in hand.
Bailing out
While Sexton’s kicking performance was a masterclass, Reddan at scrum-half was similarly effective with his use of the boot.
He kicked nine times overall against Ulster and in many of those instances allowed his chasers to either regain possession or apply major pressure to Ulster’s fielders.
Again, the tone is set early as Luke Fitzgerald superbly retrieves this second-minute box kick by Reddan.
Throughout this game, Reddan generally got four seconds or slightly more of hang time on his kicks while dropping them 20 metres beyond the kick point. That, roughly, is the ideal criteria for a retrievable box kick and Fitzgerald shows as much above.
The left wing doesn’t actually beat Andrew Trimble’s hands to the ball but he’s in the air, physically competing against his fellow Ireland international and forcing the error. Leinster are away onto the attack.
The results weren’t always as positive as this for Leinster against Ulster, but the quality of the kicking from Reddan and the aggressive nature of the chase meant Cullen’s men very, very rarely gave the visitors an invitation to immediately attack back at them.
Key for Connacht in combating Leinster’s kicking game is obviously the quality of their fielding, but also the work of the players in front of the ball in shielding the fielder.
We get one fine illustration of the importance of that ‘tracking’ or ‘shepherding’ work from Ulster in the example above.
We note that it’s a clean catch from Payne in this instance, even if he is immediately tackled by Nacewa, but only the clever off-the-ball play of Craig Gilroy ensures that Payne does not have a one-on-one contest in the air.
Nacewa is the primary chase for Leinster, as indicated with the yellow arrow above, but when we examine the clip a little more closely we can see that Gilroy actually turns on a little burst of acceleration to ensure he crosses paths with Nacewa [red].
The two players collide and Nacewa shoves Gilroy hard to let him know he’s not too happy to have been impeded.
Interestingly, referee Ian Davies actually calls up Ulster lock Peter Browne for his attempt at a tracking block in this instance, which is highlighted below.
Brown just steps into Heaslip’s chasing line here, not managing to close him off completely but ever so slightly nudging him off course.
“Let’s not go there four [Browne's shirt number], please, ok?” says Davies as he moves past the Ulster lock.
Whatever about Browne’s actions, the work of Gilroy is absolutely key to ensuring Payne can get off the ground and win the ball cleanly before being tackled.
It’s one of the ‘fine margins’ that are so vital in the modern game and Connacht’s back three will need their team-mates to be subtly effective in front of the ball as they look to field it on Saturday.
Defensive grit
Leinster did give up two tries against Ulster, which they’ll be disappointed about and have analysed in some depth, but their defensive performance last weekend was excellent overall.
That’s one of the aspects that fascinates most ahead of Saturday’s final – how will the best attack in the league, Connacht’s, fare against the leading defence in the competition?
With Kurt McQuilkin having returned as defence coach, Leinster have genuinely enjoyed defending this season. They relish the opportunity to attack the opposition with their defence.
While they are not a perfect defensive team – so side is – they work particularly hard for each other, meaning that when they are stretched or cut apart, they have a good habit of regathering and regaining some control.
We get a fine example of that ability to rebound after the breakout from Iain Henderson below.
The freakish Ulsterman strips the ball from Jack McGrath and bounds away into the Leinster half like a runaway wildman, but Nacewa makes a superb covering tackle as he tracks inside from Leinster’s right.
Nonetheless, Ulster are in a superb position here, flooding onto the ball against a Leinster team that is taken by surprise.
We often talk of the ‘transition’ phase in rugby in terms of defence changing into attack with turnover ball, but Leinster handle the opposite transition very well. Their mindset instantly focuses on surviving and then thriving in defence.
Ulster make gains down the left after Henderson’s carry, but on the very next phase Leinster eat back metres with excellent linespeed led by Reddan and concluding with a firm McGrath hit on Sean Reidy.
Three phases later, with Leinster’s defensive shape now calm and collected, we see McGrath involved again as he looks to win those metres for a second time.
This time, McGrath opts for a wrestling-style tackle, dipping into the repertoire of techniques McQuilkin has helped to develop and finding the ideal solution. Rhys Ruddock ploughs in to aid the collision victory, then bounces back to his feet for more.
Another seven phases of energy-sapping defence later, McGrath is involved again – he’s made a tackle and poach attempt in the meantime – as he teams up with Jordi Murphy for the hit of the night.
Murphy takes Browne’s legs away as McGrath hammers into his chest, then we can see that Murphy fights up to his feet and attempts to barge over the ball. He doesn’t make a major impact but that second action was typical of his incredible work rate last weekend.
Another two phases later, Leinster finally get the turnover their effort has earned.
With Ulster moving backwards, even Henderson appears uncertain and he’s standing still as Leinster race up again. McGrath is the man to smash into a hit that Heaslip completes, before maintaining his feet as Chris Henry flops to ground on the clearout attempt.
Mike Ross drags another clearing Ulster player, Payne, away from the tackle point and Heaslip is able to pounce over the ball and force a penalty.
These are snapshots of Leinster’s defence, but this was perhaps the key passage of the game. Henderson’s break followed relatively soon after Gilroy’s try on the stroke of half time and could have been the catalyst for a complete shift of control.
McQuilkin’s men dug in, however, and showed their work rate and technical quality in contact to recover and thrive in defence. Certainly, there are issues to be reviewed after conceding two tries to Ulster – one on account of a poor effort to fold to the short side and another due to a defensive misread from Ian Madigan.
They will face a different test against Connacht’s intelligent set-piece strikes and 2-4-2 shape in phase play, but Leinster come into this contest with utter belief in their defence. Crucially, they will be excited about the prospect of shutting down the lauded Connacht attack.
Brute ruck force
Another fine illustration of Leinster’s aggression within a simple game plan was the quality of their rucking against Ulster.
Cullen’s fired-up side hammered rucks with venom, particularly in the opposition 22, ensuring that Ulster were kept moving rapidly in defence.
Leinster’s attacking game plan with ball in hand didn’t involve much in the way of multiple passes per phase or major width, but it was certainly effective. It was one-out rugby much of the time, but one-out rugby done well.
The clip above begins with something of a missed opportunity for Leinster. They move the ball through Sexton to Te’o and there’s a chance on the outside edge.
Te’o manages to fix Trimble, sitting him down, but then doesn’t release the pre-contact pass to Nacewa that would allow the fullback and Fitzgerald into a two-on-one with Paddy Jackson on the edge of Ulster’s frontline defence. A work-on for certain.
Our main focus is on the ruck work of Heaslip after Te’o carries the ball, however.
Heaslip engages Trimble to the right-hand side and clears him deep beyond the ball to open up a channel of space for Ringrose to dart into after he scoops the ball up.
Ringrose takes advantage of the gap opened by Heaslip’s work and attempts to wriggle under the tackle of Ricky Lutton but he’s grounded.
Heaslip is then on hand to drive a right shoulder into Lutton to ensure he has no thoughts of subtly attempting to slow Leinster’s possession. Away they go to the left after a two-second ruck.
Leinster’s tempo in the Ulster 22 was very high last weekend and the stress that creates on the defence eventually told in this particular passage, which originated with Pienaar’s poor box kick.
Fitzgerald carries to the right of a ruck on 13th phase and we see more of Leinster’s good clearout work.
Ringrose is the first man to arrive and he does well to initially ensure that Henry doesn’t get a clean jackal. Mick Kearney thumps tackler Callum Black away from the ball and then Toner arrives in to smash Henry fully clear and open the back of the ruck for Reddan.
With the repeated speed of ruck and high tempo catching up on their defence, Ulster have become very narrow on their left-hand side of the ruck.
Reddan does superbly to take full advantage of that fact, firing a long pass across the face of Dave Kearney, whose run attracts Luke Marshall inwards.
Gilroy, having been caught narrow, will have been disappointed with his tackle attempt on Nacewa, and the same applies to Payne in behind.
Our focus here, however, is the quality of Leinster’s ruck work. It was one of the major themes of their attacking display against Ulster and ensured that even a straightforward and possibly ‘predictable’ game plan was extremely effective.
There are few sides as clever as Leinster around the ruck, as we see in the instance below.
It’s worth pointing out that the penalty here comes on the end of three simple, direct carries off a lineout platform by Ben Te’o, Ringrose and Kearney. Nothing complicated, but a combination of aggression, footwork and power gets them beyond the gainline each time.
McGrath identifies his opportunity after Kearney hammers into the soak tackle of Henry, with the loosehead prop actually driving the Ulster back row into the ruck and deliberately trapping him with his knees.
Referee Davies buys the move and penalises Henry for not rolling away.
It’s cynical and takes advantage of referees’ seemingly insatiable desire to penalise players for not rolling away, but McGrath is simply earning points for his side here. Sexton slots the penalty for a 10-0 Leinster lead.
This specific type of example is obviously relatively rare, but it underlines how Leinster push the limits cleverly around the ruck in order to gain an advantage.
From going deep beyond the ball, trapping players and pushing up on outside edge to impede folding defenders, they have long been masters of these dark arts and Cullen will have been encouraged to see his men pushing the limits.
Connacht will have to match and better Leinster’s aggression and shrewdness over the tackle in Edinburgh.
Glimpses of genius
Underestimating Leinster’s ability to spark in attack beyond one-out rugby would, of course, be foolish of Connacht.
Cullen’s side possesses a number of players capable of excelling in less structured situations and that much was underlined by the excellent Heaslip try last weekend.
It comes on fifth phase after an initial lineout drive – Leinster’s set-piece work will be a major test of Connacht’s quality – and Ringrose’s dancing feet get the real thrust of the attack going.
The 21-year-old is perhaps under-lauded in defence, where his good reads are often backed up with impacts that show he can punch above his weight, but moments like this in attack are what truly excite the majority of Leinster fans.
With nothing on to that right-hand side of the ruck, and a wall of defenders in front of him, Ringrose steps sharply back to the left, benefiting from Strauss’ little block on Henry.
Suddenly, Ringrose has time to dart to the left side of the original ruck and draw Browne in enough to give Sexton time on the ball. Ringrose ships a huge hit from Browne for his trouble, but Leinster are now in a brilliant scoring situation.
Sexton draws Rory Best superbly before releasing Te’o, and typically continues to move upfield to provide a potential support line inside his powerful centre.
In the situation above, many players would pass to Fitzgerald on the touchline, but Te’o appears to be concerned that Trimble will drift back off him and bundle the Leinster wing into touch.
Whatever about his decision-making, the future England international makes his call the right one by pulling off a sensational one-handed offload as he lures both Trimble and Pienaar inside into tackling him.
Not too many players have the confidence, core strength or grip to take on an offload like this one.
Te’o nails it, however, and 85kg Jackson has very little chance of halting 110kg Heaslip from close range.
Big bad Leinster
Leinster are favourites for this Pro12 final on account of their knock-out history, array of experienced Test stars and the effectiveness of their play.
Last weekend was the prime demonstration this season that Cullen’s side are still capable of superb performances. There have been doubts on the outside but Leinster themselves responded brilliantly to Sexton’s recent rallying call.
They have not been hitting their previously-exceptional standards for much of this season, but last weekend there were hints of glory days gone by in Leinster’s performance.
Gritty defence, ruthlessness at the ruck, an intelligent and smothering kicking game, accuracy in core skills like carrying and rucking, we well as snippets of creativity in attack.
If Leinster can repeat, or better, their performance in Saturday’s final, then Connacht’s fairytale may well have an unhappy ending.
With a trophy on the line at Murrayfield and a score to settle after the 7-6 defeat in Galway in March, Sexton and co. would take utter pleasure in re-asserting their position as top dogs in Ireland.
Footage courtesy of Sky Sports, who will broadcast the Guinness Pro12 final on Sky Sports 3 from 5pm on Saturday.
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