When it comes to the Champions Cup, the end is beginning to justify the means. While there is no getting away from the fact that the pool stages are an anaemic and underwhelming process to get rid of a few teams and redirect another handful to the Challenge Cup, the knockout phase of the tournament has been very enjoyable.
The round of 16 produced some entertaining and close-fought matches, more than I expected, but the quarter-finals lifted the competition into a different competitive stratosphere. High-quality rugby, meaningful stakes and a pair of semi-final line-ups that represent a fair reflection of the form teams.
Perhaps Toulouse remain the outlier to the last statement. They had the misfortune to meet Bordeaux-Bègles, with the defending champions on home turf. That nudged the likely outcome in the direction of Bordeaux and that’s how it transpired.
In my experience, there is always a seminal moment or match along the way to winning silverware but crucially, a team needs to keep more in reserve for the final. Our quarter-final win over Harlequins in 2009 and the semi-final victory against Clermont in 2012 – those were the matches that tested the character of the Leinster group as much as the quality.
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Last Sunday, Toulouse dominated possession and territory in the opening 30 minutes but could not convert it into points. When discipline began to slip, they didn’t have sufficient points on the scoreboard to act as a buffer as they sought to regain momentum.
Bordeaux, by contrast, showed a doggedness in defence to stay in the match and then a ruthlessness to attack when opportunities materialised. The clearest illustration of their rugby nous came after a sustained period of Toulouse pressure. They won a penalty metres from their line.
Outhalf Matthieu Jalibert took a quick tap and charged upfield. A better pass from Yoram Moefana to Damian Penaud could have yielded a try. That tells you everything about this Bordeaux team – they never wavered, never retreated into a safer shape when the moment allowed something more.
Momentum shifted, as it so often does when teams fail to profit from sustained pressure. The Bordeaux passes began to stick, half-breaks became line breaks and Toulouse had no answer. This Bordeaux team is getting better season on season. Runner-up in the Top 14 twice in the last two seasons, the current Champions Cup holders have played their way into another semi-final and sit well placed in the French Top 14.
The best teams monopolise silverware when they have the players and the form to do so: Munster in their pomp, Leinster, Leicester, Wasps, Saracens, La Rochelle and Toulouse. Bordeaux are stepping into that category now.
While there may not have been a complete changing of the guard, Bordeaux are, right now, the best team in Europe at attacking transition. That is not simply down to the raw pace of Louis Bielle-Biarrey or Salesi Rayasi, but the collective willingness to attack the moment it presents itself, regardless of field position. It is an attitude as much as a system.
There is relevance in all of that for Leinster, who face another French behemoth, Toulon, in early May. Home advantage is significant for Leo Cullen’s men, but Toulon are a sizeable challenge.
The more pressing question this week is a different competition entirely. Ulster sit above Leinster in the URC table. For the first time in a long time, that is not a sentence that requires a qualifier. It reflects form, ambition and a style of rugby that is being rewarded.
In previous seasons, confidence in Ulster did not always align with what was happening on the pitch. That gap has closed. In difficult conditions against a La Rochelle side that offered little, they maintained the tempo and the attacking intent that has served them well all season. There will be genuine belief within that squad going into this weekend. They have earned that by what they’ve done on the pitch.
Leinster remind me of Rory McIlroy and his most recent Masters triumph, playing well enough, results going their way but something not quite clicking at times. They haven’t fully figured out how to get into that flow state. The naysayers are circling. What McIlroy did was answer his critics where and when it mattered. Leinster need to find a similar response, and the Ulster fixture at Ravenhill is the ideal moment to do it.
Leinster have yet to fully find their mojo heading into a Champions Cup semi-final – when will it all click?
The Toulouse and Bordeaux match offered a specific technical observation worth carrying into that conversation. When both teams got over the gainline at times, they committed one player to clean-out rucks, while moving the ball immediately.
That gambit offers a poaching opportunity if there is any delay, but conversely, if the ball is whisked away, it also keeps numbers on their feet to find the space that opens up. It is a risk, but it is a calculated one, and it is precisely the kind of risk that Leinster have tended to avoid.
The predictability in their attack has been notable all season; defences set up comfortably against them. It is starting to evolve. Hugo Keenan made a huge impact, as did Tommy O’Brien. Dan Sheehan mixed up a powerful close-contact game with encouraging broken field running.
Get the head right and the body will follow. That was the way under Stuart Lancaster – find that freedom to make mistakes and eventually you stop making them.
The Ward brothers, Zac and Bryn, have changed the texture of Ulster’s attack in a way that is visible and galvanising for team-mates. Throw in Stu McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale and you have a backline with genuine threats across the width of the field. Leinster will need to bring an intensity that matches that, and then some.
Ulster’s position ahead of their provincial rivals in the table is not an aside or a footnote. It represents the story of the season so far but the table at the end of the season is the only one that matters. Leinster have the quality to respond.
The underdog tag might not fully apply in Belfast, but the mentality that comes with it – the freedom, the edge – would not go amiss. The Champions Cup semi-final is three weeks away. But first, Leinster need to answer a question that has been gathering legs all season. Friday night in Belfast is the moment to respond.
