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Mary Hannigan: Leinster have one shot left, but the odds are against them

Gordon D’Arcy has some worries for Saturday’s game, while Darragh Ó Sé has zero sympathy for shoot-out losers

Ronan O’Gara, head coach of La Rochelle, shares a laugh with Leo Cullen, head coach of Leinster, prioer to last years's Heineken Champions Cup final. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Wed May 17 2023 - 10:08

It’s a case of “be careful what you wish for”. Gordon D’Arcy reflects on writing consistently over the last few years about Munster needing to “reintroduce some spice and jeopardy” into their rivalry with Leinster. And then last Saturday happened. “It’s all well and good putting words down on paper until they catch up with you,” he writes. You can almost hear him sigh.

After that URC semi-final defeat, then, Leinster are once again left “with one shot to redeem the season” when they take on La Rochelle in Saturday’s Champions Cup final. But Gordon isn’t feeling hopeful, reckoning that “the odds are stacked against them”.

Among those standing between Leinster and revenge for last year’s defeat is La Rochelle outhalf Antoine Hastoy, the leading points scorer (81) in this season’s competition. John O’Sullivan reminds us that on Hastoy’s last visit to the Aviva Stadium, in the pool phase of the competition back in December, he scored 26 points against Ulster. A happy hunting ground, then.

In Gaelic games, Darragh Ó Sé has little sympathy for Armagh after that shoot-out defeat to Derry in the Ulster final. “I don’t buy this notion it’s an awful way to lose a game …. if you can’t win a match in normal time, or after extra-time, that’s what the penalty shootout is for.”

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While there was a hair’s breadth between the teams in Clones, Seán Moran worries that a good chunk of the games in the round-robin phase of the football Championship, which starts at the weekend, will be “hopelessly one-sided”. There are, he argues, simply too many teams in the field, which has been doubled to 16 this year, making it inevitable that we’ll see “mismatches and heavy defeats”.

John Kiely, meanwhile, admits that his Limerick hurlers have had “a dose of reality” after their lacklustre start to the championship, Gordon Manning hearing from the manager ahead of their critical meeting with Tipperary on Sunday “in a match they dare not lose”. And if they do lose, he’ll be greeted by a sea of blue and gold jerseys on Monday morning at the Tipperary school where he is principal.

And in golf, Philip Reid was in New York to hear Rory McIlroy preview his 15th appearance at the PGA Championship where he will be attempting to win his first major since, remarkably, 2014. Reflecting on his Masters woes last month, he said “this game can bring you back down to earth pretty quickly”. You amateurs out there can relate to that sentiment.

Telly watch: Our very gifted under-17 football team open their European Championship campaign against Poland this afternoon – you can see the game live on the RTÉ News channel and the RTÉ Player (kick-off 3.30). And later, there’s a “game of the season” look about the second leg of the Champions League semi-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid, the first leg finishing 1-1 (Virgin Media Two, BT Sport 1, kick-off 8.0).