Former Munster player Donnacha O’Callaghan believes that Leinster are fortunate the media haven't punished them for going trophyless two seasons in a row.
Like in 2022, Leinster lost the Champions Cup final against a French team and also lost in the URC semi-finals.
The post-mortem as to what went wrong with Leinster will continue over the next few weeks, but O'Callaghan believes that the Irish province needs to be held accountable for their failings, and the media should be doing more to hold them to task after the Bulls loss last weekend.
“Leinster has been let off over the last few years. They are one of the best-resourced teams, not only in club rugby but in world rugby, and they just have not delivered," he said this week.
“People leave them off. Media, leave them off... They need to be held accountable, not just for this performance but for their performances over the last while.
❌2019: 20-10 vs Saracens
❌2022: 24-21 vs La Rochelle
❌2023: 27-26 vs La Rochelle
❌2024: 31-22 vs Toulouse.🔵 Leinster perdió las últimas 4 finales que jugó en la Champions, después de haber ganado las primeras 4 que disputó (2009, 2011, 2012 y 2018) pic.twitter.com/2uJ3RkAz1W
— Periodismo Rugby (@Perrugby) May 27, 2024
“That will be damaging for Irish rugby. The whole of South Africa is going to jump up and say, Look what our Bulls team did to this national team. We’re going to pay the price on the summer tour.
“From a Leinster point of view, it was an absolutely terrible performance, a terrible result, and one that should really shake the foundations.”
O'Callaghan also blamed Leo Cullen and his staff for not allowing the more established stars chances to test themselves away from home. He believes that this is a flaw in Leinster's management.
“They’ve got it wrong; they’ve got it wrong again,” O’Callaghan added.
“It’s brilliant using 50 players, but when it comes to cup final rugby, you need to win it—and you need to have a team.
“We saw this team, star-studded with internationals, and they were lost on the road because they’re not used to doing it.
“That is a flaw in management. I wouldn’t fault these players; they will always go out and give it their all—to be fair to them—but they haven’t had any experience in those away games."
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