Simon Zebo: Leinster's URC final has big role to play in larger Lions picture
Simon Zebo believes Leinster's experience in this Saturday's BKT URC final at Croke Park will have 'huge significance', both for them and for the entire British and Irish Lions squad, later in the summer.
Andy Farrell broke the record for representatives from one club when choosing so many boys in blue for the trip Down Under, but the province as a whole has flattered to deceive yet again at the tail end of a campaign.
A Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton Saints, bad in its own right, was followed by an obvious hangover in URC ties against Glasgow and Scarlets, before signs of an upswing against the Warriors last week.
Farrell will be heavily invested as he watches them take on the Bulls in Croke Park.
'For sure, it will definitely help the confidence and the momentum, especially with the Lions core being Irish-heavy. If those lads perform and pick up the URC, that will bring a lot of confidence back and it will bode well for the squad as a whole.
'So it is a pretty important fixture this week,' Zebo agreed. 'There is a lot of pressure on Leinster and, looking down the line at the Lions and form and getting picked, then this match has huge significance, for sure.'
The 37-19 defeat of the Scots at the Aviva Stadium last weekend will have come as some relief to the club's supporters. Leinster claimed six tries against Franco Smith's side and were much more comfortable than that scoreline suggests.
And yet.
Zebo was in Ballsbridge working on the game for Premier Sports and he watched the second-semi-final between the Bulls and the Sharks in full immediately after. He has no doubt that Leinster aren't humming again yet.
'No. I thought Glasgow were poor. I thought Leinster were good without being great. The Bulls will be very different, but I said that after the Scarlets. I felt Leinster did up their game and Glasgow weren't as good as I thought they would be.
'Again, the Bulls will definitely be better. Whether or not [Leinster] win I don't know but I am not convinced yet. I don't think the performances since Northampton from Leinster and those 12 Lions has been back to their best rugby.
'Not yet anyway, but they are all capable of doing that.'
The Lions context aside, this is a huge game for Leo Cullen, his team and the organization at large given the recent history of defeats in big knockout games since winning their last trophy – the last ever PRO14 title – in 2021.
Zebo agrees that some of their deficiencies have been mental but added that there 'were a couple of little arrogant things through selection' in there too, most obviously when they rotated so heavily for a URC semi-final against Munster two years ago.
Backs are clearly against the wall in the capital. Joe McCarthy all but admitted as much when he spoke to RTÉ after the semi-final and put it out there that everyone hated Leinster. The old siege mentality approach.
'They're probably out to prove people wrong and that will probably help. Their previous mentality hasn't worked so I suppose going in with a fresh mindset, maybe Jacques Nienaber might have had some insight there.
'He's a brilliant motivator and gets the players going. I don't like Leinster, just because they're rivals, so you know what I mean? Munster dislike them and they dislike Munster, that's no problem. It's like Barcelona and Real Madrid in soccer.
"Of course you don't like your rivals, but I don't think the general public hate Leinster as much as maybe they believe inside camp. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.'
As for his own province, Munster will have just one player on tour in Australia this summer in Tadhg Beirne. It is the province's lowest representation since the 1997 series win in South Africa.
Something to think about before the 2029 trip to New Zealand.
'Individual ambitions for the players? Absolutely. I know Craig Casey would be one of those expecting to go on that next Lions tour. With his form he could have potentially gone on this tour. You have Jack Crowley potentially in the same boat.
'You have someone like Calvin Nash who wants to break back onto the international scene and potentially go on a Lions tour. Then people like Alex Kendellen and Tom Ahern: there could potentially be a big swing in representation from this tour to the next.'
Simon Zebo teamed up with BoyleSports to preview the British & Irish Lions Tour. BoyleSports will Pay Out Early if either side goes 17 points ahead at any stage.
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