IN THE SMILING aftermath of Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final win over Scarlets, a question of selection was directed at Leo Cullen.
Would this crop of front-line players see any game-time in the three weeks before the Champions Cup final in Bilbao?
Sitting beside Cullen, Jonathan Sexton looked keen to answer, leaning into an exaggerated nod of the head that screamed: put me in, coach!
He didn’t get his wish, and the much-changed side sent to Connacht on Saturday was well and truly torn apart, leaving a smorgasbord of food for thought in front of Leinster’s fringe talent before they compete for a role in either the European Cup final or the Pro14 knockouts beyond.
“It was hard to pick many positives out of that to tell you the truth,” Cullen said post-match in the Sportsground as the lengthy Connacht send-offs were just winding down.
Positives come in the lack of injury to pile atop the insult of a seven-try loss. Jordi Murphy pulled out of the matchday squad with a foot complaint and was removed as a precaution, so Caelan Doris took over the number 20 jersey to win his first cap. Not exactly a dream debut.
“We were second-best, 47-10, well-beaten. We just weren’t in the contact,” added the head coach.
Connacht were very good, you have to hand it to them. They were very dominant in the contact, so dominant in the collisions. That’s the area some of these guys need to get better at.”
Defeat in the Galway sunshine wasn’t just the biggest loss of the season for Leinster, it blew the other lows in this campaign out of the water. Before Saturday, 32-18 (Ospreys, following the Six Nations finale) and 38-19 (Cheetahs, early-season at altitude) represented their biggest defeats of the season.
Indeed, it’s the heaviest loss of Stuart Lancaster’s time in Dublin, because for anything resembling the 47-10 drubbing inspired by John Muldoon’s exit, Leinster have to look back to Connacht’s title-winning season in 2016. In January of that year, Wasps inflicted a 51-10 hammering on a bruised and battered Leinster outfit in the final round of Champions Cup pool matches.
Cullen insisted he wasn’t mad. Though he was disappointed.
“I wouldn’t be angry, because I see those guys working hard. There are a lot of things they need to develop in terms of mental toughness needed to dog it out in games like this.
“We work hard, they are young guys and Connacht had a lot of experience. But you never like to see that sort of thing happen to your team when you’re involved in coaching them, or in any capacity.”
A record defeat to their neighbours of the west shouldn’t necessarily spark memories of Leinster’s final regular season game of last season. One was a 37-point loss, the other a deficit of just four, but on both occasions the side sent on the road was unable to cope with a host passionately intent on bidding farewell to a club legend with a win.
As it turned out, Leinster only played one game after Ruan Pienaar’s big leaving do, showing up a long way under par for the Pro12 semi-final loss at home to Scarlets.
“Hopefully not,” said Cullen when the parallel was pointed out, “obviously we got beaten in the game (in Belfast) too, we just have to build up now for Racing. It’s a huge adventure.
“We have to go through the pain of this review first. We don’t have a game next week, we freshen up and start to get ready again.”
A Champions Cup final will keep all minds focused sharper than any league match could, but with the club experiencing losses to Benetton and a drubbing to Connacht either side of the impressive semi-final showing, the game-hungry Leinster front-liners can consider themselves well warned as they ramp up to San Mames.
As a Connacht fan, while it was very enjoyable to see them play with such style and flair against a second string Leinster side, it was also tinged with the frustration of wondering why they couldn’t produce the same intensity against the likes of Zebre, Edinburgh and Cardiff who we lost to meekly at home over the last few months. More consistent performance are needed next season, rather than one off big games against Munster, Ulster and Leinster who were all beaten at the sportsground this season. A grand total of 39points for the season was a woeful return.
@Berry Broderick: you’re too modest. Yes Leinster had a lot of youth in there but I think with the strength in depth Leinster have been boasting of late a 2nd string was supposedly like a 1st string elsewhere (or so us Leinster fans were bleating) and this is evident when you look at who exactly played, leinster had more, much more internationals on the pitch and had some older experience as well, not just all youth.
@SPQH: It was a good Connacht win & although they didn’t win against the team that would be playing a European final they did play a side that was packed with talent but was unfocused, distracted, and wasn’t allowed to play the game they wanted by a fired up Connacht side, it is not an excuse to say Leinster had little to play for but maybe mentally they were not as switched on as the Connacht side who were massive, being mentally there is a crucial part of the game. A positive for Leinster is it will be a good learning experience for the Leinster “2nd” team but let’s be honest also a great and deserved Connacht win.
@SPQH: I would like to say on a separate point that much has been made on here about Larmour running out 4 the conversion, this is something they’re drilled to do & was probably just fired up after just coming on & ran out on automatic
Thanks Leinster for providing a fairy tale ending to John Muldoon’s career. Smashing a tin can 47-10 isn’t as satisfying as smashing the best team in Europe 47-10. Every fairytale needs a villain!
@BlueSkyThinking: well done Connacht and Mul.. but it was the Leinster 2nds and 3rds team so don’t get too excited
@Marcodub: stop qualifying it. It was a decent Leinster outfit who were very well beaten. Stop trying to take away from Connacht who coukd only play the team in front of them.
@Conor Paddington: exactly. It wasn’t the top team but it was a decent team who were ravaged. A solid win.
@SPQH: Leinster still had 13 internationals in their squad against Connacht
@Patrick O Connell: indeed. Unbelievably with all those internationals it still wasn’t their full top team, however it was not a weak team, it was a Leinster team that was supposed to be able to win a game while resting some of the top XV, some, not all. It sounds harsh on a sort of young team, but when you compare the amount of internationals there you’d expect a win, but a loss is forgivable, but it was a total domination. It was a solid Connacht win. I hope it didn’t seem like I’m taking away from it in some way.
Bad form out of Leinster as they didn’t even stick around and have the after match meal with Connacht bar one or two. Still sulking over the bad beaten and the fact Muldoon hit the conversion.
@Dundee: lol. Bet you were waiting to get that in. Do you seriously think they would have changed their exit plans on that result? Leinster are into the European final and host a home semi in the Pro14. Do you really think they’re gonna sulk? How do you know they haven’t honoured Muldoon in their own way, or is there only acceptable way to do so?
@Dundee: who stayed out of interest? I saw Robbie walking with the crowd down outside the huntsman after the game.
@Dundee: jaysus you’re miserable.
@grandslamkbo: Because I was there you clown.
@Dundee: easily one of the most pathetic, juvenile comments I’ve ever come across on this site… you absolute complete muppet.. I was there blah blah crap
Why? Would you like me to tell a lie!!!! Ha ha Muppet. We touching a sore spot there.
@Dundee: teams don’t hang around and have meals after Pro 14 games.. god you’re clueless
@Marcodub: Really!!!! Now how do you know that? You don’t hang around the Connacht in Galway so because nearly all the teams have the food in there you sad sad pathetic little boy.
Remember the uproar over Leinster sending a similar “B team” to Thomond earlier in the season? Remeber that “B team” taking Munster apart?
Well the press were happy enough to see Leinster send the “B team” to Connacht, but there should be recognition for what Connacht did at the weekend. They killed Leinsters game and Leinster never adapted, a good kicking game was undone by indiscipline and a poor lineout game (poor/disrupted).
At one stage I counted 8 Leinstermen in a ruck trying to protect the ball from 2 Connacht men, the slow ball came back and McCarthy passed outside to 4 vs 9 in defence, next phase turnover.
Well played Connacht.
@Paul McK: I don’t think you’ll find much argument from Leinster fans tbh. Good win.
The Leinster performance was well below par and unfortunately didnt add anything to the occasion. Fair play to Connacht, they out thought and out fought a leinster side who looked like they were on the beer for a few days. None of them put their hand up for selection on the 12th. Amazes me that Connacht can produce a performance like that against us year after year but then blow it against the likes of Zebre and Edinburgh. More consistency required from Connacht and more focus from Leinster please!
While the temptation after a result like this is to wipe the slate clean and pick a new 15, as well as Connacht played, I think that Cullen and Lancaster also got the balance of selecting the team very wrong.
Management’s hands may have been tied because of fatigued Champions Cup players but putting such an inexperienced and physically small team out was a recipe for disaster against a fired-up and physical Connacht side.
Time and finals will show whether Leinster’s management team was correct to rest the bulk of their best XV before the big games over the last two months. Having almost half of the players in your squad on a three-game losing streak certainly doesn’t help the atmosphere in training.
@EK: It was a nothing game.
Relax.
such utter management BS talk from Leo.
‘painful review’ my hole.
That Lancaster fella is a cod Bill!
Leinster need an NIQ 12 and to take back a lock or two for the other provinces now