{"id":541941,"date":"2026-06-18T16:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/541941\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T16:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:53:14","slug":"beating-three-south-african-teams-on-the-bounce-is-the-only-response-to-champions-cup-loss-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/541941\/","title":{"rendered":"Beating three South African teams on the bounce is the only response to Champions Cup loss \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a period of belt tightening for Irish rugby<\/a>. Nothing drastic. The national team\u2019s budget will probably increase heading into a World Cup year. It certainly won\u2019t be cut.<\/p>\n

The squeeze, however, is evident elsewhere. I guess that is why Leinster<\/a> are losing James Lowe to Suntory Sungoliath in <\/b>Tokyo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the most obvious sign of austerity around the provinces. The absence of a high-profile Springbok or All Black being signed for next season is also notable. I do not think Leinster are going from Jordie Barrett to Rieko Ioane<\/a> to another New Zealander.<\/p>\n

The Ireland under-20s on the edge of URC match day squads should welcome the opportunities that will come.<\/p>\n

There are subtle changes, like the value of contracts for teenagers up to twentysomethings on a national deal. All of them are feeling the pinch. A few grand, here and there, has been trimmed off the bottom line.<\/p>\n

The last World Cup campaign contributed to an \u20ac18.4 million deficit when the IRFU tends to break even. <\/p>\n

There was plenty made about the incentivised deal offered to Lowe to bring his salary closer to market value. It required him to hit serious numbers for Leinster next season. By numbers, I mean minutes, games and tries. These sorts of deals can sometimes force players to carry knocks and niggles into every weekend. <\/p>\n

\"Leinster'sLeinster’s James Lowe will be leaving. Photograph: Dan Sheridan\/Inpho <\/p>\n

This is not a criticism of the system. I\u2019m proof of how well it works. I could have kept going into a 16th, even 17th season and one year out of the game my body is in good shape.<\/p>\n

Real living, outside the athlete\u2019s bubble, stopped me going again in Japan, Bordeaux or at another province. My golf handicap is better for the decision to retire. All our future plans were accelerated. <\/p>\n

Rugby does not allow you to prioritise anything outside of the game. You play, recover and go again.<\/p>\n

For many of the Leinster lads, it will feel like they are coming off two straight seasons. <\/p>\n

Now, they have been managed by the system. They got a break after the Lions tour. But that only put pressure on them to hit the ground running in September or October, almost having to reclaim their provincial place after a later preseason.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, it takes a toll. Andrew Porter has been an Ireland international since 2017. When your career ticks into double figures, the body will yell \u2018stop!\u2019 at some stage.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Isa Nacewa backs Nienaber system as Leinster prepare for Bulls URC final at Croke ParkOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

I see Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan have sufficiently recovered from injuries to make the Leinster squad ahead of Friday\u2019s URC final against a meaty Bulls pack with their two-time World Cup-winning outhalf Handr\u00e8 Pollard and wily fullback Willie Le Roux.<\/p>\n

The Lions test series in Australia was 11 months ago. Eight Leinster players who featured in the second test are available for selection against the Bulls. Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier were unlucky not to be selected Down Under. <\/p>\n

Nobody wants to miss a final in Croker. <\/p>\n

Internally, the players know they are on a hiding to nothing. Beat the Bulls and people will mention defeat in another Champions Cup final. Who cares what they say. Overcoming three South African franchises on the bounce would be the best possible response to that day in the searing heat of Bilbao against Bordeaux-Begles.<\/p>\n

By the way, there is no Top 14 title for Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert or Ben Tameifuna as combining a European run with French derbies week in, week out took an earlier toll than anyone expected. Bordeaux are already on the beach.<\/p>\n

\"MunsterMunster players celebrate winning the URC title in 2023. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

I hope this doesn\u2019t come off as a moan. I loved playing rugby at this time of year. It means you are close to silverware. Munster\u2019s run to a URC title in 2023, after coming up short for so many years, will stick with me forever. Especially winning down in South Africa. <\/p>\n

Tough days on the road bonded our group. Just like Bilbao will have gelled the Leinster lads.<\/p>\n

But the page has already been turned. Ireland players from Munster, Ulster and Connacht were in a mini-camp this week, blowing off the cobwebs before they travel to the southern hemisphere to face Australia, Japan and New Zealand at Eden Park on July 18th.<\/p>\n

The continued success of the national team is the number one priority for the IRFU.<\/p>\n

I remember injuring my knee in a URC knockout match a few years ago. Joe Schmidt was Ireland coach at the time. \u201cI\u2019ll strap it up next weekend and be good for the tour,\u201d I told him. \u201cYou won\u2019t be playing next week or the week after,\u201d Joe replied. Sure enough, I was fit to start three test matches that summer. <\/p>\n

The URC final has yet to kick-off but World Cup preparations have already clicked into gear. That\u2019s why the system remains so important. It should be constantly examined and criticised whenever necessary. But never discarded or radically revamped. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Combination of entitled fans and big-stadium fatigue sees Leinster\u2019s appeal fall sharplyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is a period of belt tightening for Irish rugby. Nothing drastic. The national team\u2019s budget will probably…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[41599,18,19,17,34132,12861,2525,132,42271],"class_list":["post-541941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-conor-murray","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-leinster-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-united-rugby-championship"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116772157316839406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}