AS YOU WALK out of the changing rooms towards the pitch at Loftus Versfeld, there’s a sign above your head to give you a final reminder of what’s in store.
“Altitude. 1350m. It matters,” reads the sign.
Lots of players have folded under the pressure from the Bulls or South Africa at the famous venue in Pretoria, struggling with the altitude, noise, and physicality of the home teams.
But South African sides are not unbeatable in Pretoria. The All Blacks have won there five times against the Springboks, with England managing it in 1994.
The Bulls have a strong home record, with Munster’s win at Loftus Versfeld in April the first time the Pretoria-based side had lost at home since joining the URC. But Munster’s success showed that the challenge can be overcome with a smart plan, precise execution, and an explosive bench.
Leinster are hoping to deliver all of those on Saturday as they face the Bulls in their URC semi-final. Jake White has called for the 52,000-capacity stadium to be filled by a raucous home crowd and Leinster are hoping they can be inspired even if they’re the visitors.
“You feed off the atmosphere,” says loosehead prop Cian Healy. “If there’s a big buzz in the stadium and a bit of a show, you want to get involved and be part of it. Energy is energy, it’s just what you take from it.”
The Leinster pack know the importance of their contributions on Saturday. Anyone who wants to beat a South African team has to pitch up in contact.
“It’s a great test,” says Healy.”Any forward should be licking their lips.
“There’s not going to be many tip-on passes played from them, I wouldn’t imagine, carries are going to go up the guts and it’ll be a bit of me-v-you and that’s a great test for us, how we can band together and deal with that.
“We hit in twos and threes, break them down that way, and that’s a bit of a way where we’ll try and take their legs, constantly shut the door on them when they try and come down the neck.”
Then there’s the set-piece.
“Their scrum, maul and lineout are danger points in how they enter the game,” says Healy.
“If we can put a net over that, deal with it and let the backs do their thing and get involved as much as we can, I think that’s how we get into it. Shut out their scrum, shut out their maul, and that will let us get on top a bit.”
In that sense, Leinster will have been encouraged by another strong outing for the scrum against Ulster in last weekend’s quarter-final.
There was only one scrum penalty win for Leinster but they squeezed Ulster on a few other occasions, continuing a theme of increased aggression under forwards coach Robin McBryde.
According to Stats Perform’s data, Leinster are averaging 2.21 scrum penalty wins per game in the URC season, the third highest in the competition and a major leap on their average of 1.35 last season.
But the increased aggression has its risks. Leinster have still averaged 2.00 scrum penalty concessions per game, the fifth highest in the league, even if that is down on last season’s 2.15.
“There’s always a lot of time put into it, but I suppose we’ve gone through all the big end-games, the quarters and semis and finals of Champions Cup and when you’re tested at such a high end, you start to find what really clicks properly for you,” says Healy.
“I think that’s been happening, lads are figuring things out a bit and getting to that comfortable point where you might feel as a loosehead that you’re getting an easier feel of what your tighthead is doing or what he needs.
“I think it’s time in the saddle under serious pressure is where you can produce some goods like that.”
While younger looseheads like Michael Milne and Jack Boyle have big ambitions to work their way up the pecking order, Healy remains part of Leinster’s frontline sextet of front rows along with Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, and Michael Ala’alatoa.
All of them are fit and available, offering Leinster strength in this area. Ala’alatoa will depart at the end of the season, with experienced French tighthead Rabah Slimani set to replace him.
Healy says the Samoan international will be missed.
“Mike has been really good. He’s one of those people that brings people together in the group really well, great energy in the group.
“He’s the music man, he carries around a big beatbox with him and tunes get played before and after meetings and before every get-together. What a figure he is, he has shipped up to some amount of games in his time and he will be sorely missed.”
- This article was updated at 1.12pm to correct the caption on the photograph of Leinster scrummaging against Ulster.
