Leinster were yesterday crowned the 2025 URC champions after a comprehensive 32-7 win over The Bulls in Croke Park. It was a very composed performance, probably the best performance of the year that saw them only beaten 3 times over the season, twice in the URC and once in the Champions Cup.
It was the final appearance for a number of players with Cian Healy retiring, Ross Byrne moving onto to pastures new and Jordie Barrett ending his 6 month stint with a winners medal. He has also indicated that he may be back post the 2027 World Cup, watch this space may be the saying to sum that up…
Leinster have been a perennial play-off team since 2021 making a few finals in that time and yesterday they crossed the winning threshold in spectacular fashion and were crowned deserved champions of the URC.
The Bulls will look at another final loss and will really question their whole approach as they were well beaten and Jake White will wonder what it will take to get his side over the line.
He was in reflective mood post-match and lamented the strength in depth of the Leinster 23 that had RG Snyman ex Bulls man and Jordie Barrett in it and he did not even include the Irish internationals not involved due to injury.
We are back on that merry go round of the Leinster strength in depth and the perceived lack of quality that Jake White felt he didn’t have as he said they were facing “Ireland” in blue jerseys.
Someone would really want to remind Mr White that he had Johan Goosen, Willie Le Roux and Canan Moodie to name 3 springboks he had in his squad for yesterday’s game so it is defiantly a one eyed approach to the manner of the defeat.
They were out played and that is for the second final in a row so Jake White might just need to look at his own preparations before crowing about the fact his team supposedly faced “Ireland” in the final. They had home advantage last season vs Glasgow but were well beaten on that day and he didn’t mention he faced “Scotland” after that loss on home soil.
They seemed to be very leggy as well as being out played by Leinster after they had taken an early lead that they never added to. Leo Cullen and his coaches will be pleased that the work of the season has ended with a trophy as one gets the feeling had The Bulls won yesterday, the calls for Leo Cullen to go may have grown louder.
As it is, Leinster will go into the summer break as the 2025 URC winners and they can come back for pre-season with a renewed focus for next season.
They will have a number of players stepping up from the academy to supplement the rest of the current squad and like last December they will welcome Reiko Ioane on a similar deal to the one Jordie Barrett has just left. He will join for his 6 month sabbatical and will hope to have the type of impact his fellow New Zealand team mate had in his short spell in Blue.
Ryan Baird in particular stood out for Leinster as did Thomas Clarkson and a number of other players. Jack Conan is timing his run perfectly as the British and Irish Lions come to town to play Argentina next Friday night and then head to Australia for the 2025 tour.
He was the starting number 8 in the Covid tour of 2021 in South Africa and will hope he can replicate that form as well as the good strong form of recent months in the 6 shirt and more recently in the 8 shirt after the unfortunate injury to Caelan Doris.
Leinster are the 2025 URC champions and are deserved winners after such a strong campaign and while they will have regrets about certain games on the whole the season has to be seen as a success…..