Back to news
Glasgow will sense opportunity against a Leinster team in need of a lift
@Source: the42.ie
Advertisement
League of Ireland
Horse Racing
TV Listings
GAA Fixtures
The Video Review
Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture
Rugby Weekly Extra
Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week
The Football Family
Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points
Advertisement
More Stories
Leinster's James Lowe and Scarlets' Ellis Mee compete for a ball.Dan Sheridan/INPHO
Glasgow will sense opportunity against a Leinster team in need of a lift
The province have looked unconvincing since losing their Champions Cup semi-final last month.
8.15am, 2 Jun 2025
Share options
LEINSTER NEED A trophy, but Saturday’s quarter-final defeat of Scarlets suggested a URC title might not capture as many imaginations as the province would like.
A turnout of less than 13,000 made for a strange occasion at Aviva Stadium. While not a small number, the crowd was utterly lost in a 51,000+ capacity stadium. There are understandable reasons why the fixture didn’t attract a larger audience: falling on a bank holiday weekend, where DART services were closed between Connolly and Dun Laoghaire, against a team Leinster were widely expected to beat with some ease and in doing so, secure another home game seven days later.
Yet it’s not all logistics. Leinster’s devastating Champions Cup loss to Northampton Saints clearly sucked much of the enthusiasm out of the province’s season. The URC is a very clear and distinct second prize. The province’s players have previously made clear that it’s essentially all or nothing in terms of winning Europe. Even if Leinster do win the URC in the coming weeks, the season will be remembered for another failure at Champions Cup level.
That’s the cold, harsh reality when you’re a team with such lofty ambitions.
Less than 13,00 turned out for Leinster's URC quarter-final.Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Post-game on Saturday, Leo Cullen repeatedly called for the supporters to turn out when defending URC champions Glasgow Warriors come to Dublin on Saturday [KO 2.45pm]. While stressing he was not disappointed with the attendance for Scarlets and detailing reasons why that might have been the case, he also underlined the lift a larger crowd can give to his players – players who perhaps need that lift given the lingering Champions Cup pain. This was not the look of a group energised by the chance to end their season with a URC medal.
“Please turn out in force,” Cullen said. “We would love to see you here in June and get excited about cheering on the team and all the rest, because the players feed off that energy. Like, the players are human beings and they want to do well, they want to feel that support behind them.”
All that said, Cullen refused to use the smaller crowd as a contributing factor in his team’s scrappy, disjointed display.
Advertisement
“No, no, no, no. I don’t want to use that at all,” he continued.
We played here in front of empty stadiums in Covid and I would much rather have what we had there today. In no way am I giving out here, in no way.
“There is a reality, a shift. It is outside the norm and we all have our habitual bits to the makeup of our calendar, certain things we do at certain times of the year. We just need to make it more in the public consciousness among people that watch rugby. We’ll just keep beating the drum. We are asking supporters to come out here again next Saturday. It is short. We had a two-week lead-in and this is one week so it is more challenging again.”
In reality, the gate return might be the least of his worries. If Leinster are similarly off-colour against Glasgow the province might well be staring another home semi-final defeat in the face. Cullen’s men held 65% possession and 70% territory against Scarlets but still struggled to put the game to bed more efficiently.
Cullen was asked if he feels his players can peak over the next two weekends. His answer led him back to yet more reflections on what went wrong against the Saints.
“The thing is, you talk about a season and you have players that have to go through the course of it. The peaking bit is a challenge and that’s for us to get our preparation right this week, trying to get them peaking during Six Nations and on Champions Cup weekends.
“It’s unusual having seven playoff games in a season. We’re not going to get seven this year but you have to have some level of a plan for that. We had Six Nations, then three Champions Cup games, two great and one poor.
“Was that Northampton or us? Were they excellent or was that us? We had a chance at the end. Different day, different decisions, different outcomes and you go on to another game. Again, it’s turn the page.
Jack Conan makes a break.Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“We had a chance to refresh last week when we were off and managing that can be a bit of a challenge as we chopped and changed the team a bit for Zebre and Glasgow. There’s not much at stake in those games, that’s the reality and that can potentially lure you into bad habits.
“With play-off rugby, its cagey, play the conditions and the opposition and find a way to win. It doesn’t matter. You deal with the variables on the day: big crowd, small crowd. It forces Scarlets to change the way they are playing if we are two or three scores in front in the second-half, but unfortunately it’s not to be. That’s the way the game goes and you find a way to navigate through that and I’m pleased the way the lads did that.”
Leinster have already faced Glasgow twice this season, both at the Aviva. In April, a painfully one-sided Champions Cup quarter-final saw the province thump an injury-hit Glasgow 52-0. More recently Leinster edged a URC meeting 13-5.
Yet the Warriors will see this as a real opportunity against a Leinster side still licking the wounds of that Northampton loss.
“We’ve come up against them in a Champions Cup game and they looked like they were running on fumes that week,” Cullen said.
“You watch them in the warm-up then when there’s not a huge amount at stake (in the URC game) and you can see they are a very focused team.
“You could see they were very physical. We had some chances, so did they, they had a lot of possession in the first-half and they were probably disappointed not to capitalise. Then we go down the other end and go 7-0 in front, maybe could have scored another before half-time.
“It was just a cagey sort of game. Will it be a cagey game again, I don’t know. It’s a knock-out game so what matters is just getting through. People tend not to remember the detail as in what actually happens in these games. We just need to go through.”
That need is increasingly evident as the weeks roll by.
Ciarán Kennedy
Viewcomments
Send Tip or Correction
Embed this post
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Email “Glasgow will sense opportunity against a Leinster team in need of a lift”.
Recipient's Email
Feedback on “Glasgow will sense opportunity against a Leinster team in need of a lift”.
Your Feedback
Your Email (optional)
Report a Comment
Please select the reason for reporting this comment.
Please give full details of the problem with the comment...
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
before taking part.
Leave a Comment
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel.
Racism or Hate speech
An attack on an individual or group based on religion, race, gender, or beliefs.
Trolling or Off-topic
An attempt to derail the discussion.
Inappropriate language
Profanity, obscenity, vulgarity, or slurs.
Advertising, phishing, scamming, bots, or repetitive posts.
Please provide additional information
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
Leave a commentcancel
Access to the comments facility has been disabled for this user
View our policy
⚠️ Duplicate comment
Post Comment
have your say
Or create a free account to join the discussion
David Forde
'People saw a gentle giant. They had no idea behind closed doors what that Jekyll and Hyde was capable of doing'
Looking Back
The Irish international who went from a chocolate factory to Bayern Munich trials
AnalysisGroup Fallout
'We'll be having a serious conversation': Mistakes and wides frustrate Dublin in loss to Armagh
FreeStill On Top
Scottie Scheffler defends Memorial title as Lowry endures difficult final round
'I’ll bring some tissues next time' - Verstappen and Russell snipe at each other over collision
FreeOn The Track
Fourth for Coscoran in 3000m while Mawdsley takes seventh in 200m in Philadelphia
Alcaraz battles his way into French Open quarter-finals as Swiatek rallies to progress
Young woman participating in Cork City Marathon passes away
Here is the Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final draw following today's action
On the Move
Caoimhin Kelleher set to leave Liverpool for Brentford in €21m deal - reports
Clare power into All-Ireland minor semi-finals with strong finish as Waterford also advance
more from us
Investigates
Daft.ie Property Magazine
Allianz Home Magazine
The 42 Sports Magazine
Money Diaries
The Journal TV
Journal Media
Advertise With Us
About FactCheck
Our Network
FactCheck Knowledge Bank
Terms & Legal Notices
Terms of Use
Cookies & Privacy
Advertising
Competition
more from us
TV Listings
GAA Fixtures
The Video Review
Journal Media
Advertise With Us
Our Network
The Journal
FactCheck Knowledge Bank
Terms & Legal Notices
Terms of Use
Cookies & Privacy
Advertising
Competition
© 2025 Journal Media Ltd
Terms of Use
Cookies & Privacy
Advertising
Competition
Switch to Desktop
Switch to Mobile
The 42 supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at https://www.presscouncil.ie, PH: (01) 6489130, Lo-Call 1800 208 080 or email: mailto:info@presscouncil.ie
Report an error, omission or problem:
Your Email (optional)
Create Email Alert
Create an email alert based on the current article
Email Address
One email every morning
As soon as new articles come online
Sign in or create
a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Related News
20 Mar, 2025
Boys golf: Preseason Top 20 rankings, 20 . . .
13 May, 2025
Rio Ferdinand lifts lid on Ruben Amorim' . . .
16 Mar, 2025
Funny Memes and Jokes Go Viral As Mumbai . . .
02 May, 2025
Nelly Korda's disastrous opening round a . . .
26 Apr, 2025
OPINION: These ancient traditions keep u . . .
15 Mar, 2025
Football: Indian team needs players who . . .
05 Apr, 2025
PBKS vs RR Dream11 Prediction: Fantasy C . . .
27 Apr, 2025
Wrexham one step from Premier League as . . .