The Vodacom Bulls are underdogs at their Loftus Versfeld fortress? Not on your life.
The bemused reaction of Leinster assistant coach Robin McBryde said it all when quizzed about Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White’s assertion that - “in most people’s eyes, we don’t stand a chance against Leinster”, making the home side out to be underdogs against the most consistent side in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
While the mental games before Saturday’s semifinal are nothing new for either side, or coach for that matter, McBryde chuckled as the assertion came that the Bulls were the underdogs for a game they will host against a Leinster side that has to cross hemispheres to get to.
McBryde rather wanted to focus on Leinster embracing the challenge of playing the Bulls in their own backyard, but wasn’t biting at White’s assertion.
NOT BITING
“They have, what, 20 internationals in their squad? And they would be world champions if that’s the case. So for us to come here and face them in their backyard, it is going to be a vociferous and hostile environment with the home supporters. We have had the benefit of having home support and they have been great,” McBryde said.
“It will be good for us to face it in another way. Hopefully being taken out of our comfort zone we will see a bit of growth again but as a front row, a front five, as a pack of eight forwards, the challenges don’t come much greater than this. It’s one to really embrace and look forward to.”
Leinster’s bizarre record of so much success, but so little silverware in the past three years is something that is driving them on - the virtual “chip on the shoulder”, as McBryde put it. But it also places pressure on them knowing that they have lost three Investec Champions’ Cup finals in a row (four in six years) and have lost in the semifinals in the two versions of the URC that have been played.
For a club with such ambitions, such player depth and a budget to match, it is something they have been concentrating hard on to overcome when they get onto the field on Saturday.
And while on paper their side is much more experienced and should have the measure of the Bulls, with prominent Irish commentators like Bernard Jackman already saying it would be a “failure” if they lose at Loftus, the pressure will be on them against a Bulls side with nothing to lose.
LAST SA TRIP A FAILURE
Leinster’s last South African trip saw them lose both games with an understrength squad, while their main team stayed behind to concentrate on the Champions’ Cup. And it is something that cost them a home playoff, seeing them finish third behind the Bulls, who grabbed second spot.
“Listen, we’ve had to do things a little bit differently this season,” McBryde admitted.
“We had home knockout fixtures the last couple of years but there is a little trick, definitely in my head anyway, where sometimes it is good to do things the hard way around because when you are written off and nobody gives you an opportunity, you just have to prove all doubters wrong.
“If you’ve got a chip on your shoulder that will drive you on a fair bit. So, there’s a part of you that says, ‘yeah, bring it on, make it harder again then’. We’ll still embrace it and still give it our best crack. That’s the spirit you want. You’ve got to have that mindset, It’s the same as a team that gets a red card. You see them on the field, it just gels them all together and makes them stronger in a funny sort of way.”
“It’s the same as a team that gets a red card. You see them on the field, it just gels them all together and makes them stronger in a funny sort of way. We are doing things a different way this year and hopefully, we will be successful, but the travel and getting here, nobody has complained.”
SCRUM BATTLE
The Bulls caused some headaches in the scrum for Leinster even though the Irish side won the last fixture in Dublin by a country mile. And it is likely to be their focus again when they face off with a strong Bulls pack this weekend.
But McBryde believes that will spur his side on, and it is up to them to put out “the right pictures” so the referee can give them the advantage in the setpiece battle.
“Hopefully, being taken out of our comfort zone, we will see a bit of growth again but as a front row, a front five, as a pack of eight forwards, the challenges don’t come much greater than this.
“It’s one to really embrace and look forward to.
“I was talking to a good friend of mine and it was after the Champions Cup final, and he said, ‘listen, you can do all the preparatory work and get all the detail into your game, but when you do walk onto the pitch, it’s like walking into a casino because you can’t control a lot of the things’,” he said.
“And he got my mind thinking, and I was thinking, ‘yeah, you’re probably right there, it’s the referee who holds the cards’.
“We’ve got to make sure that we present good, positive pictures to (referee) Sam Grove-White on Saturday and the tighter exchanges, scrum, maul, that’s what they base their game on. That’s their soul.
“So we’ve got to match that, we’ve got to stand up to that. As a test for us as a pack, it doesn’t get any clearer.