And then were two. What’s more, after the top four in the regular season table emerged from the quarter-finals, so the top two won their semi-finals to ensure that the best two sides over the 18 rounds from September to May will contest the Grand Final. In the four years of the United Rugby Championship, this is actually the first time this has happened.
Were it not for rugby slightly outstaying its welcome in the Irish sporting psyche, next Saturday’s decider at Croke Park would have the sense of occasion befitting what is arguably the grandest of all grand finals too.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s 37-19 semi-final win over Glasgow Warriors to dethrone the champions, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen described the Bulls as “a giant” of not just South African rugby but of the world game, and also as a juggernaut.
Yet the same could be said of his own province, certainly in an Irish or European context, for although the failure to earn that elusive fifth star is shared between players, back room staff and fans, and has hung in the air ever since that loss to Northampton, it’s worth reminding ourselves that only the European aristocrats of Toulouse have more stars on their jerseys.
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Yet, although Leinster are the most successful Irish province in the professional era, and have won this competition eight times in its previous guises, this will be their first URC Grand Final per se. Similarly, although the Bulls are the most successful Super Rugby franchise in their country, they are also seeking their first URC title, having lost two finals. Under the canny Jake White, the Bulls would cherish a first URC title as much as they did any of their three Super Rugby titles in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
Adding to the intrigue, two of Leinster’s three semi-final defeats have come at the hands of the Bulls, by 27-26 at the RDS three seasons ago a week after they pummelled Glasgow 76-14, and by 25-20 in Loftus Versfeld last season.
The irony is that although the South African superpowers are relatively new to the URC, their supporters have bought into this reiteration of the Pro 14 more so than the Champions Cup, and more so than their Irish counterparts, for whom, ironically, the latter competition is undeniably the more important trophy.
That much was evident for the huge crowds at the two quarter-finals in South Africa and again last weekend, when 47,200 filled Loftus Versfeld, whereas 15,762 was made to look even smaller in the 50,000-capacity Aviva Stadium.
Yet despite another Irish summer’s day which contained all four seasons, not even downpours early on and at the finale to last Saturday’s semi-final at the Aviva could dampen the enthusiasm of a crowd made more engaged by the upturn in Leinster’s performance.
If truth be told, had such an enthusiastic attendance been accommodated in the RDS the atmosphere and sense of occasion would probably have diluted some of the chat around the crowd and rugby’s difficulty in selling tickets to matches in June – unless it’s the British & Irish Lions against Argentina, of course.
Having suffered against the Bulls in Loftus Versfeld in last season’s semi-final, Leinster digested that lesson and determinedly sought to nail down first place in the regular season. Like much else they’ve done in the last four seasons, Leinster don’t receive much credit for this, of course.
Yet it’s worth noting that Leinster only lost two matches over the course of the 18-match regular URC campaign. They accumulated 76 points, 11 more than when finishing third last season and eight points more than the Bulls. It’s a tally which has only been bettered once in the four years of this iteration of the competition, namely by Leinster themselves when accumulating 79 points two seasons ago.
To do this while using 58 players is a remarkable testament to Leinster’s depth chart, as is being bulk suppliers to the Irish team and indeed providing a dozen players to the British & Irish Lions. Furthermore, Leinster have “earned” a sixth home knock-out tie out of six this season.
This is another achievement in itself, and one which other teams in Europe would happily embrace. Along with making the most of their temporary tenancy of the Aviva Stadium, this is what allows Leinster to sign the likes of RG Snyman, Rabah Slimani and Jordie Barrett, and to replace the latter with Rieko Ioane next season.
By any yardstick, through earning and achieving all these things, Leinster could be said to have had a very successful season in many regards. But, of course, while that might have been the case once upon a time, Leinster are judged, and judge themselves, by winning trophies.
Walk in the door of their HPC and immediately, in a large glass cabinet, sit replicas of their four Champions Cup wins and eight Celtic League through to Pro 14 titles. In many of the rooms there are pictures or montages of such successes and others by their women’s, underage and A sides.
Until the last three seasons just gone, Leinster had become a machine which hoovered up trophies. But those three Champions Cup final losses and three URC semi-final defeats were compounded by that crushing setback against Northampton.
That’s why winning next Saturday’s final is so badly needed, even if it is not the preferred choice of players, back room staff and fans alike. But, as much as anything, it would banish some of the demons from so many near misses in recent years, rather than have them all linger on into next season.
It wouldn’t be a panacea for that elusive fifth start, but it might help to eventually complete that magnificent obsession and it would still be a magnificent achievement in its own right.
