Culture Vultures Leinster may rely on their artisan strengths to win their first European Champions Cup since 2012. As Leo Cullen and his side front up to French Giants Racing '92, the constant stream of young talent punching through has created an evolving culture and challenged established players.
Lock Devin Toner, who has played in three European Cup finals, believes the energy and immediacy of players such as Garry Ringrose, Andrew Porter, James Ryan and Tadhg Furlong have added to and taken on the stated aims and ambitions of the province as they face into their most important game in six years.
“I suppose it helps that you know you can trust the lad beside you because you know him inside out,” says Toner.
“If I’m on one side of James (Ryan), I know he’s going to make that tackle. He knows that I have his outside shoulder as well.
“I’m not going to say how people under-estimate how a squad gels together. It is huge.”
The particular bond that exists between players who have a common back ground and shared sense of place and history cannot be discounted as a determining factor, which senior coach Stuart Lancaster says is not matched by many other rugby teams or even football clubs currently playing.
Lancaster comes from a tight north of England rugby league background where local tradition and history are an important binding force. When he first took over as England coach, he took the players training in the north for the first time to understand culture and humility.
Leinster, he says, know their identity - and not unlike Munster respect the importance of it each time they play.
“If you ask me when I went to build a team, what do you look get right first,” asks Lancaster.
“You look to get the culture right. You look to get a strong sense of identity and also with England that’s what I tried to do when I took over in 2011/2012. We talked a lot about that in the first couple of years.
“With Leinster I was very lucky that I came into a team that has a strong culture, had great players, who had a very, very strong identity because 90 per cent of the players who play for Leinster, I think, are born in Leinster.
“Which is incredible. I can’t think of a team in soccer (aside from Athletic Bilbao). There’s very, very few, I certainly can’t think of any in rugby where there’s so many home grown players in one team.”
There is also a hunger biting and although 31-year-old Toner with his three finals is an outlier, the other players who have broken through in recent years see opportunity and the chance to break new ground. There are different motivations, experiences and ambitions now shaping the team.
Andrew Porter was 16-years-old when Leinster beat Ulster 42-14 in Twickenham in 2012 in the then Heineken Cup final. Jordan Larmour was a 14-year-old rugby and hockey player in St Andrews School in Dublin and unaware that the Leinster culture had dramatically changed after Michael Cheika arrived from Australia and took and angle grinder to the system that was in place.
“We are a different team because there are so many younger guys coming through,” claims Toner.
“There are so many guys who haven’t won anything yet with Leinster. You’ve got the likes of James Ryan, you’ve got your Porter, your Ringrose... It is pretty strong this year.”
Players will acknowledge that culture is not everything and it won’t win trophies on its own. The players will also say that without strong culture teams will lose matches when they should win them. It is a point of difference and a point of success or failure.
“Honesty, hard work...brothers behaviours: we work hard for each other and I think I didn’t have to do too much in that regard,” says Lancaster.
“I just came in (to Leinster) and learned about it, and tried to embrace it, live here, feel part of the community and I think if you do that and commit to it it’s a powerful force.”
