Were Leinster a bit too cute with their selection for the Champions Cup semi-final? Gordon D’Arcy believes so. Leaving Jordie Barrett and Andrew Porter on the bench might have been “a nod to how South Africa have done things en route to back-to-back World Cups”, but it’s his view that “you select your strongest team to try to win the match from the first minute, rather than in the 79th”. In the end, it was “a humbling lesson” for Leinster who must now “dispel the notion that the URC is a step down” – they need to “salvage a trophy from a season that promised so much”.
Josh van der Flier reflected on the crushing defeat to Northampton when he spoke with the media, the Leinster openside unsure how pivotal “Alex Coles’s illegal intervention was in the 79th minute”. If a penalty try had been awarded, he’d now, most probably, be looking forward to another Champions Cup final.
Ifs, buts and maybes, Leinster have to turn their focus to Saturday’s URC meeting with Zebre. While they are sitting pretty at the top of the table, Munster and Ulster are in a desperate scrap to reach the playoffs, Gerry Thornley previewing their meeting at Thomond Park on Friday which, “to all intents and purposes, “is “a win-or-bust clash for both of them”.
Michael Sadlier hears from Richie Murphy ahead of the game, the Ulster coach buoyed by the return from injury of a bunch of his players, giving him the strongest squad he’s had to work with since he took over. Connacht’s injury list remains a lengthy one, though, as they prepare for the visit of Edinburgh, their top-eight hopes hanging by a tread too.
Dublin’s path forward becomes clear and what else we learned from the GAA weekend
TV View: Football is outshining hurling - it’s just a shame so much of the thrilling fare isn’t on telly
Meath are back at the top table after wins over Dublin and Kerry
Kevin Kilbane: Weak in midfield and toothless up front, Ireland now left clinging to blind hope
In Gaelic games, “the provincial championships are having a moment in the sun”, writes Seán Moran who looks back on the Connacht and Munster finals and forward to this weekend’s Ulster and Leinster deciders.
Darragh Ó Sé, meanwhile, assesses the impact of the new rules on the contests so far. But, he writes, “I’ve said from the start that we will only be able to judge them properly when they get pushed to the limit in games that are hot and heavy and full of intensity. They don’t get much hotter or heavier than an Ulster final,” he says of Armagh and Donegal’s meeting on Saturday.
And in advance of Sunday’s Leinster final, which, for only the second time in 21 years, won’t feature Dublin, Gordon Manning talks to Meath captain Eoghan Frayne who is hoping to become the first man from his county to lift the Delaney Cup since 2010. Louth will aim to deprive him of the pleasure.
TV Watch: PSG and Arsenal will, surely, struggle to match the drama in last night’s Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona, but they’ll give it a go. Arsenal are up against it, having lost the first leg 1-0 in London (RTÉ 2 & TNT Sports 1, 8.0).
