Short of a miracle, Ivan van Rooyen's men face a wounded Leinster in Dublin for a fierce URC quarter-final clash. Photo: AFP
The backlash after Leinster’s recent Champions Cup loss will be raging away unabated in the coming days, as their supporters and the Irish pundits try to make sense of another final defeat in that competition.
Although he presented a calm demeanour after the 41-19 lashing in Bilbao this past weekend to Bordeaux, there can be no doubt that Leo Cullen and his team will be under immense pressure on Saturday in the last quarter-final clash of the weekend in the United Rugby Championship (URC), when they host the Lions at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (kick-off 9pm).
By then, the semi-finalists between Glasgow Warriors and Connacht (Friday, kick-off 8.45pm), and the Bulls and Munster, and Stormers and Cardiff – both on Saturday at 1pm and 3.30pm, respectively – will have been decided.
While they record those results, the defending URC champions, Leinster, will still be smarting from the latest setback – their fourth Champions Cup final loss in five years – and will be a dangerous proposition for Ivan van Rooyen and his team to tame.
