Sarries' Munster recipe might not work against Leinster
CHAMPIONS CUP FINAL SPOTLIGHT: Saracens flank Michael Rhodes knows that his team will need a few tricks up their sleeves when they face Leinster in their Champions Cup Final on Saturday.
Saracens reached the Final after a 32-16 win over Munster and Rhodes enjoyed a good game that day, scoring the opening try.
One area Saracens excelled in against Munster was at the breakdowns, but Rhodes admitted that it will not be easy to do the same against defending champions Leinster at St. James’ Park.
Leinster will have some highly physical players in their back row and Rhodes expects a totally different proposition in.
“They are very different teams in some aspects,” said the South African-born forward told epcrugby.com. “They [Leinster] are very well organised and disciplined, with a fantastic set–piece.
“They do the basics really well and are a well-drilled side, like they have been for the last few years.
“We handled the breakdown well in the semi-final against Munster and we managed to nullify them. We’d like to think we can implement a similar plan in the final, but it won’t be easy. We saw against Toulouse how they can disrupt at the breakdown.”
Rhodes insisted that last season’s 19-30 quarterfinal defeat by Leinster will not offer any added motivation for Saracens.
“I was in St. Albans due to injury for the quarter-final last year,” Rhodes added. “On the day, we were beaten by the better side, but they are not too dissimilar to ourselves.
“It was a different situation then, as we just made it through the pool stages and had to play the No.1 seed. For us, there has been no talk of payback or us owing them one.”
Source: @ChampionsCup
