Leinster v Bulls - Teams and Prediction
URC SEMIFINAL PREVIEW: Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White is under no illusions of how tough it will be for his team to beat Leinster in Friday’s United Rugby Championship semifinal in Dublin.
The Irish province has a team brimming with international stars and it will be hard to find a pundit predicting a win for the Bulls at the RDS Arena.
Leinster, who ended the regular season at the top of the table, booked their place in the Final Four with a record-breaking 76-14 victory over Glasgow Warrior, showing no hangover from their agonising defeat to La Rochelle in the Champions Cup Final a week earlier.
They have lost only one game at the RDS all season in the URC – a 10-20 defeat to Ulster in November.
The Bulls, meanwhile, have lost just one of their last 10 matches in the URC, beaten 17-19 by the Stormers in April.
Jake White’s men finished fourth in the overall table and reached the semifinals by edging the Sharks 30-27 thanks to Chris Smith’s last-gasp drop-goal.
Speaking to media ahead of Friday’s semifinal, White acknowledged the vast difference in experience between his side and the Irish juggernauts
“It’s an incredible squad. A guy like Sean Cronin has 206 games for Leinster and Johnny Sexton has 183,” said White.
“Between the two of them, they got more games for their province than our whole squad has got together. That puts things into perspective.
“It’s an incredible team and I think everyone speaks about it and say they want to become like Leinster in terms of academies, the juniors and senior players and terms of the structures.
“We have been here before [a 3-31 defeat in Round One] and we know how good they are, so it’s not a case of using any blueprint. I don’t need to take one game in isolation.
“I think they played 225 times at RDS Arena in the Pro14 and they lost 21 times, so there are not many games you can have a look at to see how teams beat them.”
“Find a way to win” 🔥 Harold Vorster sheds some insight on the Vodacom Bulls mentality ahead of our Semi-Final tomorrow 💪@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/pVA7eDLDJ1
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) June 9, 2022
White added that he is eager to see his team’s growth against one of the best teams in the world.
“Leinster have been the benchmark of European rugby,” said White.
“Every year they are in the play-offs of the European Cup and I think they won this tournament [previously Pro14] four times in a row.
“People talk about the All Blacks’ dominance and they will talk about Barcelona in football. The reality is that Leinster are the benchmark for rugby at club level.
“Having been with this group for two years, I am just keen to see how we are going to be.
“I think we surpassed everything we should have done anyway.
“This is another great test to see whether or not we can live with the standards of the best side in Europe.”
La Rochelle’s win in the Champions Cup Final has given the Bulls some pointers, but White knows it is not that simple.
“We will have to start well,” said the Bulls boss. “If you look at Leinster, they generally start most games incredibly well and score most of their points in the first 25 minutes and then it becomes difficult for teams to catch up with them.
“To play catch-up rugby against Leinster is difficult, so one thing La Rochelle probably got right is that they managed to stay in the game and they were able to win it at the end.”
A different beast
Meanwhile, Leinster assistant coach Felipe Contepomi knows that his team will be up against a different team from the one they faced in Dublin in Round One.
“I think we maybe caught them off guard,” said Contepomi.
“Maybe for them, it was part of the learning curve.
“Now they are on track and it’s a semifinal. They have quality players and loads of internationals.
“They are a very South African team in terms of style and they are very well-coached.
“It’s a World Cup-winner coaching them, so they know exactly how to play in the knockout stages.”
🗣️ | “𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁.”
Felipe Contepomi says he is aware of the task facing #LeinsterRugby as they take on Vodacom Bulls on Friday. 🙌 👊 #LEIvBUL #URC pic.twitter.com/mCPtSL1390
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) June 7, 2022
Leinster outside back Jordan Lamour says the rucks and breakdowns will be a key area in the game.
“It’s a massive challenge for us, the physicality they bring up front and then the poach threats they have across the park, so I imagine they’re going to go pretty hard at the breakdown,” he said.
“They’re going to try to go through the guts of us with their forwards and get over the gain line, so for us, it’s focusing on the small things and doing the simple things well.
“Matching them at the gain line, looking after our ruck ball so we can play quickly – all those little things will make the difference.
“The talent they have across their players is immense, so it’s going to be a tough challenge for us but one we’re excited about and looking forward to.”
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster by 15 points.
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Rory O’Loughlin, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan (captain), 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Johnny Sexton, 23 Ciarán Frawley.
Bulls: 15 Canan Moodie, 14 David Kriel, 13 Cornal Hendricks, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Mantanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Date: Friday, June 10
Venue: RDS Arena, Dublin
Kick-off: 19.35 (20.35 SA time; 18.35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Lipperini (Italy)
Additional source: @URCOfficial
