Starting with Josh van Der Flier’s seventh-minute try against the Bulls at the Aviva Stadium last September up to Jimmy O’Brien completing their haul of a dozen last week against the Glasgow, Leinster have scored a whopping 131 tries in 26 games this season.
Their try-scoring proficiency has dwarfed all rivals in both the Champions Cup and the URC. There’s no doubt which prize they and their supporters covet more (the 15,000 in Marseille a fortnight ago will exceed those in the RDS against the Bulls this evening).
But, having been perhaps the best team ever in a given season not to be crowned European champions, it would leave a plentiful supply of stones under their beach towels this summer if they were to come up short in the URC as well.
Viewed in that light, a defeat to a South African team such as the Bulls in the semi-final would fuel that hoary old chestnut about them not being equipped to cope with big physical sides who base their game on power.
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However, Felipe Contepomi played down that theory when pointing out Leinster overcame the power of Leicester and Toulouse in Europe, maintaining they “had nothing to prove” on that score and Leo Cullen struck a similarly defiant note after yesterday’s captain’s run at the RDS.
“You need to be adaptable in the game, to the conditions and the referee, etc. We’re not shying away from the set-piece battle, we want to take them on in that area and we want to be up-front about it.
“We’ve a huge amount of experience and power ourselves, it’s making sure that whatever way the game unfolds, if a team fills the defensive line, that we’re smart enough to take advantage of the space whether that’s with our kicking game or something else.
“You need to have all the tools, particularly against the better teams because they’re going to challenge you in different ways. It’s not just a case of trying to overpower a team, we need to use our smarts as well.
“We’ve experienced players all across the team, one to 23, they’ll hopefully add real impact as well. That’s the challenge in the later stage of competitions, semi-finals and finals, you’re up against good teams and they’ve all had to fight to get to this point.
“We know the Bulls are not going to hand it to us, we’ll have to fight for everything. That’s the mindset we have.”
Vodacom Bulls director of rugby Jake White was perhaps gilding the lily, as he does, when venturing: “Leinster is a phenomenal side that is very well-coached and is full of international players. You look at their bench and they have players who have more caps for the club than the entire Vodacom Bulls team combined. So we are definitely up against a quality side and it will be a great challenge.”
This is a selective interpretation given the presence of the 38-year-old Bismarck du Plessis and the 37-year-old Morne Steyn on the Bulls bench, bearing in mind they have 146 Springboks caps alone between them.
Intriguingly, after they’ve clattered into each other for an hour or so, the game will mostly likely be closed out by Steyn and the 36-year-old Johnny Sexton, with Ross Byrne again trusted to start a big knock-out game in this competition.
“There’s plenty of upside to it, because you’ve got one of the most experienced players in the world really. Morne Steyn is on their bench, he might get close to him, does he? You think of some of the big moments he’s had over the course of his career.
“In terms of what Johnny has, he has seen it all, hasn’t he? A slightly unusual role for him and he has done it before for us, but he gets nervous sitting on the bench watching the game. Figuring out where the space is, how does he come on, when does he come on, where does he exert influence and energy to the team. We’re blessed to have the option of Johnny,” said Cullen.
