Northampton were reflecting on a game they felt they could have clinched, while Leinster believed they earned their win. The final game in London is eagerly awaited. Head Coach Leo Cullen expressed what everyone was contemplating when he discussed the last few intense minutes of the full house match at Croke Park.
Cullen appreciated the overwhelming support received leading up to, and during the game, and acknowledged that the audience sure had their full of entertainment in those 80 minutes. He remarked on Northampton’s spirited comeback in the latter half of the match.
“Praise not only for the players of Leinster but also Northampton, who battled till the last whistle,” Cullen said. “Their progress with the coaching set-up there has been extraordinary. We hung in there and we’re ecstatic to make it to another final.”
He continued, “The score tipped to 20-3 early in the second half and it’s instinctive to try and maintain the lead. We may have faltered slightly, but kudos to Northampton. They dug their heels defensively and made us sweat. Our execution wasn’t at its best and they persistently came back into the game. They turned some agile moves, then before you realise it, the game goes down to the wire.”
Leinster barely held their ground as they nearly lost their footing against Northampton, even after James Lowe’s hat-trick.
Northampton’s fullback, George Furbank, expressed both his and his team’s frustration, sensing that they could’ve staged an upset before the maximum capacity crowd. “We had a decent attempt. We were in a spot where we could’ve, ought to have won the game,” mentioned the England player.
Northampton’s skipper, Courtney Lawes, echoed this sentiment, “We never felt we were out of the game. Following Leinster’s rapid try in the second half, we had to regroup. What disappoints us was that we didn’t challenge them enough, made several errors, had many ball drops and conceded penalties. These mistakes certainly need to be ruled out.”
However, Cullen, his captain Caelan Doris, and ‘Player of the Match’ Jamison Gibson-Park seemed relieved and grateful to have, barely but rightly, emerged victorious. Gibson-Park was asked about his fist punt, which led to James Lowe scoring a try.
“The Leinster scrumhalf expressed that his intuition often guides his gameplay, largely due to the familiarity amassed with his fellow players over time, who are well-versed in his propensity for seizing opportunities.
Cullen, however, queried the possibility of the recent surge of games having an impact on Leinster’s players. He shared that an alternate selection of players was dispatched to South Africa for the series of matches in the United Rugby Championship, thereby presenting the team’s weekly staple of competitive play in a hiatus for a considerable period of time.
“A multitude of insights gleaned,” Cullen stated. “A number of the players had not participated in the recent games. Whether this had an influence or not is beyond my grasp,” he maintained.
Furthermore, Cullen evidenced his cognisance of the high-quality rugby that Northampton consistently brings to the field, as well as the standards likely to be encountered in their forthcoming opponents in the London finale.
“Encountering succeeding teams poses a challenge as they are invariably high calibre. Negligence is not an option, as none is prone to capitulate effortlessly. This applies to our adversaries in the final as well,” he added. “In light of this, attempts to hold back and merely control the game can place you in a rather precarious situation.”