Leinster v Glasgow: Five takeaways as Leo Cullen’s side still have a ‘mental block to overcome’ despite setting the record straight
Ciaran Fralwey and an inset of Leinster boss Leo Cullen.
Following a 37-19 victory for Leinster over Glasgow in the United Rugby Championship, here are our five takeaways from Saturday’s semi-final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The top line
Leinster shook off their Champions Cup hangover to reach a first URC final in four years and break their semi-final curse with a six-try demolition of champions Glasgow Warriors.
Defeats in the last three URC semi-finals, allied to a shock loss at home to Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup last-four, placed a major question mark over Leinster’s ability to deliver.
But two tries apiece from Dan Sheehan and Jamie Osborne and one each for Thomas Clarkson and Ciaran Frawley silenced their critics and means they will travel across Dublin to play either the Bulls or Sharks at Croke Park next Saturday.
Form is temporary, class is permanent
Before kick-off former Leinster star Bernard Jackman said it looked as though his old club’s confidence was shot. Asked to pick a winner, ex-Ireland wing Simon Zebo replied ‘Glasgow, by five’.
The sides had met twice already this season with Leinster winning both. Eight weeks ago in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup, the margin was 52 points, so convincing Glasgow boss Franco Smith declared that the Blues were better than Ireland.
To say there has been a revision in the assessment of this Leinster team since that April 11 meeting would be an understatement. Yet cometh the hour Leo Cullen’s side stepped up and set the record straight.
It was a performance to remind Smith he had not been going mad when declaring two months ago that this Leinster side is the greatest club team he had ever seen.
It was also one that went some way to exorcising the ghosts of Northampton. Their physicality was too much for Warriors, their kicking game from hand, predominantly by the excellent Jamison Gibson-Park, top drawer.
Glasgow suffer a recurring Dublin nightmare
It was testament to how hard Leinster’s morale was hit by their shock Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton Saints that Glasgow arrived believing they had more than a puncher’s chance.
Yes, they were reigning champions and had lost only narrowly (13-5) at the Aviva in the last round of the regular season three weeks ago.
But history gave them little reason to feel so chipper, having never beaten the Irish province in eight previous knockout fixtures and won only twice in Dublin in 31 attempts.
When George Horne responded to Sheehan’s third-minute try with Glasgow’s first, two minutes later, a modest crowd buckled up for a tight contest. Yet the Scots were no match in the aerial battle, lacked the physicality of their hosts and conceding the next 30 points left them on the road to nowhere.
Prendergast still not back to himself
When Andy Farrell decided against picking Sam Prendergast for the British and Irish Lions some felt it was harsh on the young Ireland fly-half to pay such a high price for one calamitous Leinster team performance.
The 22-year-old had looked imperious in the good times, in those Champions Cup shutouts against Harlequins and Glasgow. He had enjoyed a breakout season in the Six Nations for Ireland.
Yet the Northampton game found him wanting when it mattered most, when the eyes of Lions were on him in the final audition ahead of the squad announcement.
His hour on the field in this game saw Leinster score six tries, including 30 unanswered points after George Horne’s early try for the visitors. From a team perspective it was assuredly job done. And Prendergast played his part with some accurate kicking from hand.
Yet he left us wanting much more. His defence has long lacked conviction and once again he was too easily beaten. Then there was his place kicking. He missed three successive conversions in the first half, allowing Glasgow to just about stay in the contest.
After half-time he knocked on a ball with a Leinster try begging, before striking an upright with a penalty shot he’s expect to land in his sleep. Nobody should suggest he won’t become a top player, but right now Ireland Tests against Georgia and Portugal are a better option for his development than a Lions tour.
Does this mean Leinster are back?
No it does not. The jury is out on Cullen’s men until they deliver in a major final. It has been four years and during that time they have frequently been hailed as the best in Europe yet flattered to deceive.
They have home advantage next week and Croke Park will be a daunting place for their South African opponents to come. This evidence will give them the favourite’s mantle in what will be Jordie Barrett’s final appearance.
But when a team of this calibre has come up short so many times in the business end of seasons there is a mental block to be overcome. Many of them will also have the Lions tour in the back of their minds.
“We needed to turn up today, no excuses,” Player of the Match Ryan Baird admitted tonight. “We couldn’t take it for granted. I was telling myself beforehand I don’t have a decision today, I have to turn up.
“We want to win this tournament and that means you’ve got to show up. If you don’t you lose and you’re out. It’s as simple as that.”
Cullen could do a lot worse than let Baird give the pre-match team talk at Croke seven days from now.
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