Leinster's URC backlash could open door for Bulls

OPINION: Leinster’s premature exit from the Champions Cup may lead to a backlash in the United Rugby Championship, but may also serve the Bulls’ top-two ambitions.

Northampton Saints and Bordeaux-Bégles will advance to the Champions Cup Final on May 24 , after beating two of the pre-tournament favourites – Leinster and Toulouse – this past weekend.

The Champions Cup format may be problematic, but the final stages of Europe’s elite competition never fail to deliver on quality and drama.

The decider in Cardiff should be one to savour, and while Bordeaux will start as favourites, the odds on a Saints victory will be a lot shorter, following their 37-34 victory over Leinster in the semis.

The result in Dublin was particularly significant, in the context of the present season as well as the past seven years.

With regards to the latter, it’s fair to say that Leinster and the Irish game have lost a lot of their aura.

Ireland remains one of the top nations, and their consistency in recent seasons is a tribute to their outstanding structures at national and club level.

Specific results, of course, suggest they are trending in the wrong direction.

For starters, Ireland are no longer invincible at Lansdowne Road.

The All Blacks ended an eight-year drought in Dublin last November, becoming the first Southern Hemisphere team to win there since 2016.

Earlier this year, France thrashed Ireland 42-27 at Lansdowne Road to take charge of the Six Nations, and deny the Irish a third-consecutive title. That result marked Ireland’s first home loss in the tournament since 2021.

Leinster have supplied the bulk of the national side for many years.

Like Ireland, they have been incredibly consistent across the regular season, and like Ireland, they have developed a knack for capitulating in the big matches.

It’s been seven long years since Leinster last won the Champions Cup. They’ve been among the tournament favourites for the past three years, yet have lost two finals as well as the most recent semifinal against Northampton Saints.

One could forgive them for prioritising the elite tournament over the URC, but it’s also worth noting how Leinster have dominated the league phase of the competition since it’s inception, only to lose three semifinals – two of those in Dublin.

Until Leinster win a major tournament, they will carry the tag of chokers.

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Leo Cullen reflects on Leinster’s loss to Northampton Saints in the Semi-Finals 🔵

“It’s going to string for a long time. We were just a little bit off for whatever reason.” 🗣️#InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/BcW0GkjaQY

— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) May 3, 2025

The good news is that they are still in the running for one trophy.

An early exit from the Champions Cup will provide them with more time to focus on the URC play-offs – a luxury they haven’t enjoyed in previous seasons, given that so much of their energy has been invested into the Champions Cup Final.

It’s a good news-bad news scenario for Leinster’s URC opponents.

Prior to the Champions Cup semifinals, it was fair to expect a Leinster victory over Northampton Saints.

And in the wake of such a result, it was fair to expect Leinster – who are eight points clear at the top of the URC log – to rest or manage their best players over the remaining league matches against Zebre Parma and the Glasgow Warriors.

Both games will be played in Dublin, and even if Leinster failed to beat Zebre, one would have expected a weakened or rotated side to claim two log points over the two fixtures, and to take an unassailable lead at the top of the URC standings.

Leinster may have rested their best players for the Glasgow match, with an intent to peak in the subsequent Champions Cup final a week later.

That course of action may have opened the door for Glasgow to win in Dublin, secure second place in the URC standings, and ultimately home advantage for the quarter- and semi-finals.

But Leinster’s Champions Cup semifinal defeat could change everything.

Perhaps Jacques Nienaber and company will allow some of the players a break this week, before they commit to chasing the URC title wholeheartedly.

All the stars may be back in tow for the final URC league fixture, and may put Glasgow to the sword.

The Bulls will watch Leinster’s movements over the next two weeks with great interest.

Jake White’s charges are favourites to win their remaining league matches against Cardiff and the Dragons in Pretoria.

The Bulls won’t finish second in the standings, however, unless Glasgow slip up against Benetton or Leinster in the coming weeks.

The Bulls will be desperate to secure second place in the standings and the right to play a potential semi-final at Loftus Versfeld.

Any title contender that travels overseas and back during the URC play-offs will be at a disadvantage, as the Bulls themselves discovered in 2022, when they played the Sharks at home, Leinster away, and the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium in successive knockout matches.

It’s worth noting that Leinster will be more dangerous in the coming URC play-offs than they have been in previous seasons.

As prop Rabah Slimani put it after the defeat to Saints, the equation has now been simplified, as Leinster are chasing one trophy instead of two.

An earlier exit from the Champions Cup may provide them with more time to physically and mentally recover, and as a result, they may be in a better position to perform in the URC knockouts.

For now, the Bulls will hope that Leinster rebound and do them a favour against Glasgow.

It remains to be seen whether Leinster will rise above the pressure in the URC play-offs, and whether those Irish players will succeed where they have failed so many times before.

They should be desperate to prove a point, though, and it’s for this reason that the last few weeks on the URC will take on a new edge.

@rugby365com