This has been a special week for English teams in Europe but Leinster are the only side chasing a five-star outcome this weekend. No club have won rugby’s equivalent of the Champions League five times and Ireland’s defending champions have travelled to Newcastle determined to add to the four gold stars already proudly displayed on their jerseys.
Saturday’s occasion will do well to match the recent round-ball drama generated by Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea but Leinster will be happy to grind their way to glory if necessary. As their coach, Leo Cullen, has admitted, the possibility of eclipsing Toulouse as the tournament’s most decorated winners is “in the back of everyone’s minds” and the so-called “drive for five” is clearly a significant incentive.
So, too, is the desire to give Seán O’Brien a fitting farewell, as the popular Lions flanker, 32, prepares to head off to London Irish this summer. The tricky bit will be channeling all this bubbling emotion in the right way, with Leinster’s captain, Johnny Sexton, warning his players to keep their main priority in view. “I think we’ve learned some lessons in the past where we made it all about players leaving and wanting to send them off. It was highly emotional and that can just bear down on you.”
No one is denying O’Brien’s departure will leave a sizeable hole when he does disappear across the Irish Sea. “You want to make the most of it, because he’s one hell of a player, one hell of a character and we want to send him on a high,” Sexton said. “But it’s not going to matter for anything that it’s his last game. Sarries aren’t going to try any less.”
Equally certain is that Leinster will have to withstand a heavy-duty examination up front where Saracens, playing in red jerseys but based in the home dressing-room, will deploy a serious arsenal. The massive Will Skelton starts at lock with Maro Itoje switching to the back row in the absence of the injured Michael Rhodes, a selection that further underlines the physical threat last season’s English champions will pose.
With the odd late afternoon shower also forecast, it increases the likelihood of a similar type of contest to last year’s closely contested big bash in Bilbao between Leinster and Racing 92. Both sides have the backline ability to cause potential problems out wide but will be primarily concerned with winning the physical battle up front and at the breakdown.
Leinster also know the value of early points. “When Saracens get a good start they’re a very tough team to play against,” Cullen said. “It’s hard chasing the game against them.”
The same is true of Leinster, yet to lose a European final, and there is a sense this will not be the last showpiece game to feature these two strong, settled teams in the coming years. While Saracens have not beaten their opponents in three European meetings and lost to them in the quarter-finals last year, the London side are in much better mental and physical nick than 13 months ago.
“There’s a good sense within the team,” said hooker Jamie George. “We learned a lot from that Leinster game last year and the team are in great condition. This is a challenge we’re more than ready for.”
Securing a third European title in four years would also round off a campaign in which, unlike Leinster, they remain unbeaten. Sexton, though, reckons his side’s slightly rockier path to the final could yet prove beneficial. “We’ll take confidence from coming through a tough pool and from some of the challenges we’ve faced along the way. Ulster really put it up to us and we looked after an in-form Toulouse really well in the semi-final. We’ll also take confidence from winning a trophy last year.”
Off the field it promises to be a lively weekend with zip-wire rides available off the Tyne Bridge and the Toon throwing open its saloon doors. A vertical descent awaits one of these well-matched finalists but, not for the first time lately, the momentum is with the killjoy English.
