Sir, – Gerry Thornley wrote: “This will be Leinster’s fifth final since that 2018 triumph and a record ninth overall, something for which they don’t receive nearly enough credit” (“Irish rugby fans prepare to descend on Bilbao as Leinster and Ulster chase glory,” Sport, Monday).
Gerry is spot on. And Leo Cullen has a right to be defensive in the face of the trolling of his team, to defend his players who kept getting to their feet after being knocked to the ground in four finals and hurt maybe even more in last year’s semi-final when the gods never smiled.
Most teams would have taken to the golf course rather than risk huge disappointment once again. No, the players came back, stood up, passed the ball so fast we couldn’t see it and last Saturday tackled so fast the Toulon backs couldn’t see them. And, unlike many of us, they own their mistakes and change.
Yes, let us be grateful for all the joys and the memories which may be all we’ll have in years to come.
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As for winning in Bilbao, Leo may have nailed it. “Cullen admitted the strength of their yearning for an elusive fifth crown affected Saturday’s performance,” Gerry wrote. Cullen said: “There’s a natural bit of, I don’t know, is it tension or what is it? There’s definitely something in the performance there that we’re not quite ‘free’.”
That suggests huge value in taking the “obsession” back a notch or two, knowing that about 2.45pm on May 23rd, regardless of the result, we supporters can be proud, so grateful for the spirit in these athletes on and off the pitch who for so many years have given us in their coach’s words “a great way to feel alive”. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O’CONNELL,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
