Badly-needed trophy helps Leinster's healing process
A four-year gap without a trophy is considered normal for most teams. For a team with the resources and home-grown talent that Leinster have, it's considered a failure if they don't come home with a trophy every year.
Saturday's dominant victory over the Bulls in the BKT URC final to earn their first silverware since 2021 was relief for all those associated with the province.
Despite the improving standard of the domestic league, leaving Croke Park with the trophy felt almost non-negotiable.
There were a few things that stood on the day.
Leinster's defence was totally dominant. They missed some tackles around the 30-minute mark which started a brief purple patch for the visitors.
However, Leinster were already 19-0 up and the Bulls were always going to enjoy a period of possession. Regardless of a couple of slipped tackles, the hosts were ferocious in defence and clearly wanted to lay down a marker.
Their goal line defence was miserly, conceding just one try from a maul in the second half. The men in blue were hungry for work and eager for collisions.
The Bulls are a physical team, and would have welcomed the wet weather conditions in Dublin. I'm sure they considered the poor conditions to be a leveller, yet Leo Cullen's side grew taller with every tackle that they made.
With no plan B, the Bulls ran into the Leinster pack repeatedly without gaining any momentum.
Within the Leinster pack, the usual performers stood up. James Ryan was responsible for a number of dominant tackles, yet it was Thomas Clarkson who caught my eye.
He had a burning desire to ensure Leinster's success and drove standards around the pitch. He backed up Joe McCarthy in a mild scuffle while contributing massively to a scrum performance that gave as good as it got.
If anything, the scrum weakness was on Andrew Porter's side, who struggled at times to deal with Wilco Louw. Clarkson hit everything that moved and generally stepped up with a really mature performance in the absence of Tadhg Furlong.
Ryan Baird won the player of the match award, though a number of Leinster's pack could have received the accolade. Baird has gone from an athletic back-row with positive moments to a physical animal with many more involvements. Saturday's victory was a culmination of his improvements over the season.
Luke McGrath showed how good he is in a rare opportunity following Jamison Gibson-Park's late withdrawal. McGrath has been an unbelievable servant for Leinster, patient with his contributions since Gibson Park's ownership of the scrum-half position. He gelled seamlessly with Sam Prendergast throughout the game, providing clarity and balance in their kicking game.
His standout moment was a clever kick over a ruck which Jordie Barrett controlled beautifully to race Tommy O'Brien to the try line for Leinster's second try. 14 points in as many minutes set Leinster up for a first half performance that would see them control the game, with McGrath playing a huge part in that.
Leinster's kicking game wasn't limited to the half-backs, with Barrett and Jimmy O' Brien contributing nicely too.
However, Prendergast had his best performance in a while for Leinster. His kicking game was massively responsible for their territorial advantage. Prendergast's superpower is his right foot, as seen by a sweet connection straight from a scrum to earn a 50:22.
Referee Andrea Piardi even called a penalty in the scrum, not realising that the out-half had the distance to regain possession in a better position on the other side of the pitch.
The Bulls did little to put Leinster under pressure. Out-half Johan Goosen and full-back Willie Le Roux were off form and as a team they looked overawed by Leinster's energy.
If the Bulls performed better, Leinster may have regretted the points they left behind in the third quarter. A 22-metre attack that should have ended in a try was knocked on by RG Snyman and a kickable penalty was miscued.
However, not to discredit Leinster, they were the reason why the Bulls attack was stifled.
When it came to a final in those conditions, Leinster got their strategy right. They won the kicking battle and were far more physical than the Bulls. Both of those factors in the game will go a long way to victory.
Leinster's stats in the last few rounds have shown that they kicked the ball more often, while retaining more possession from kicks. They also improved their penalty count, reducing their average from 11 penalties per game through 17 rounds, to just 7 penalties thereafter.
Their set-piece percentage improved, ruck success improved to near perfect and their 22-metre entries also went up.
Funnily enough, their average tries scored was reduced but that is expected as you get into knockout rugby, compared to some of the high scoring league games they've been involved in.
Stats don't show you the team selection, individual moments or other factors within the game. However, with most of Leinster's metrics improving, it's no surprise that they dominated the URC final, as we all expected them to.
That's the type of performance in a final that will take the pressure off the players, Leo Cullen and the club in general.
The Champions Cup anguish lives on, but putting silverware in the cabinet will help the healing process and Leinster can now sign off on a relatively successful season.
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