Leinster 52; Glasgow Warriors 0
A massive 114 points scored and none conceded against Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors over the past two weekends means Leinster are playing a brand of rugby seldom seen in this Champions Cup or any other competition.
The big question is - can the men in blue sustain this high standard and go all the way this year when they face French opposition that had lowered their colors over the past three seasons?
He may be here on a six-month contract only, but Jordie Barrett is playing out of his skin while orchestrating Leinster’s play that if the province wins its fourth Champions Cup star, the Kiwi will be remembered hereabouts forever
After swatting ’Quins and the Warriors without allowing a breach of their own defense, it is obvious that Leinster are a different animal this year than the one over the past three years which have fallen on the big occasion (the final) to the likes of La Rochelle and Toulouse.
Head Coach Leo Cullen has that Clive Woodward style of management about him where he is happy to bring in top class coaches around him to improve standards that had already been set high.
The arrival of Jacques Nienaber or Tyler Bleyendaal are acting as a double whammy in how they are creating space in attack and suffocating opponents when Leinster are forced to defend.
It is a playbook which Andy Farrell should adopt when he returns as Ireland manager and maybe even implement while away on duty with the Lions in Australia.
The difference in style is explained here by rugby analyst Kieran Farrell, who set the scene for the Dublin Gazette ahead of this year’s Six Nations championship: “The Irish defense system isn’t quite the same as that employed by Leinster.
“With Leinster it’s more all-out blitz than with Ireland. I noticed an evolution with Leinster this year too that Ireland doesn't employ. They get a blitz tackler in quickly to stop the opposing carrier on the gain-line, then two more defenders come in, one on either side.
“If the poach is on, one or both of them will go after it. If not, they harass the ball carrier who’s now on the ground, sufficiently to slow down his ball placement and so prevent quick ball for the opposition,” he pointed out.
Farrell went on: “They do that while still on their feet and so form a pillar on either side of the break-down preventing opposition attackers going up the middle and establishing the new defensive line which the rest of the Leinster defenders quickly fill. It’s very difficult to cope with.
“I think the new coaching staff must get credit too. Nienaber’s defensive system is gelling now and Blayendaal, even though he’s not long in the camp, has evolved the Leinster attacking game.
“Also, the foreign signings are having an enormous impact. Slimani has allowed time for Furlong to recover, Snyman is playing out of his socks and his off-loading game has added a new dimension and keeps Leinster moving forward relentlessly in attack, and Jordie Barrett looks like he’s from another planet. His display [against Glasgow] was probably the best 80-minute performance I’ve ever seen from any player ever! He was incredible!” he opined.
Cullen too couldn’t contain his joy though he was insistent that the big challenges lay ahead.
“They're two good performances in six days which is great. Two very different opponents," he said on RTE.
“It was a great day in Croke Park [last week], there was quite a bit of anticipation for that for some time. We reflected off the back of that and then it was about getting a bit of freshness into the week, hence why we made some changes and chopped things up a bit. I thought all those guys added in their own different ways, and the bench came on and all made impacts.
“It's a pleasing couple of weeks for the group. The beauty of playing on a Friday night is you get to sit back and watch everyone else in action now over the rest of the weekend."
The province will face Northampton Saints who trounced Castres 51-16 to book a semi-final spot in Dublin. With the greatest respect to the Franklin's Gardens outfit, it is hard to see them preventing Leinster from reaching a fourth final in a row.
No 8 Jack Conan revealed that the squad was really taking pride in keeping out opponents, as much if not more than scoring 114 points in the last two games.
“Our defensive system is something that's really clicked this year. It took a while last year just to get on board with it, to get across the detail of it, and to see it paying dividends out there.
"The detail of Jacques, and the buy-in from the lads, it's something we've grown so much over the last while with. I know the lads absolutely love it.
"We have the athletes that we do, to go out there and physically dominate collisions, it gives everyone a lift, and I think we did that incredibly well from the off,” he stated.
The Wicklow man's night as skipper lasted only 14 minutes when he left the field with an injury, but fortunately Conan said it wasn’t a serious problem.
“I just took a whack to my neck during the week and another in the warm-up, so I knew I was on borrowed time a little bit. It should be fine, I was disappointed to come off as early as I did but I don't think the lads needed me out there in the end. Great win, great to hold them to zero as well. We know how dangerous Glasgow can be with their attacking style. There's lots of work-ons, but a great outing for us."
For the record, Leinster scored eight tries and will hope they can continue their good form with a double in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and the European Champions’ Cup.
Backrower Max Deegan continued his good South African form by paying back Cullen’s faith in him by scoring the opening and closing tries of the contest.
James Lowe, Tommy O’Brien, Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose and Dan Sheehan also dotted down while the province was awarded a penalty try in the first half.
After the match the thought lingered that this side, bolstered by the nous of Snyman up front and Barrett along the three-quarters line, could have that innate game understanding and cuteness to go all the way this season.
Bordeaux 47; Munster 29
Winning once in France in the Champions Cup as Munster did last week against La Rochelle is something that can be cherished for its rarity - expecting to win twice in successive weekends is in hindsight a sign of rugby insanity.
Even more crazy was the fact that the visitors managed to score four tries and yet lose pretty comprehensively to a Bordeaux side who showed their own strengths but obviously were only too happy to see their guests throw away chance after chance as the red lineout malfunctioned like never before.
Union Bordeaux-Begles scored six at Stade Chaban Delmas to advance to the semi-finals largely due to their first half four-try fest from Damian Penaud, Maxime Lucu, Peter Samu and Jon Echegaray.
You had to admire Munster for never throwing in the towel and an Alex Nankivell try just on the cusp of half-time kept the door ever so slightly ajar.
They rallied time and again in the second half with the excellentAndrew Smith touching down for two tries while a penalty try also aided their cause.
Bordeaux though weren't a boxer on the ropes; they still had manoeuvers and carried punches with Maxime Lamothe and France winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey dotting down for killer scores.
Munster: T Abrahams; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, A Smith; J Crowley, C Casey; J Wycherley, D Barron, O Jager; J Kleyn, T Beirne (c); P O'Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes Replacements: N Scannell, M Donnelly, S Archer, F Wycherley, T Ahern, C Murray, S O'Brien, A Kendellen.
