Leinster are Irish Test side in disguise, says Bulls coach White

It will be comparable to playing an Irish Test team when the Bulls go toe-to-toe with star-studded Leinster in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) final, coach Jake White says.

Rugby fever is building in Dublin as the finalists prepare for a bruising, no-holds-barred battle for glory at the cavernous 82,000-seat Croke Park Stadium (kickoff 6pm).

Buoyed by a tenacious semifinal win over the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls will be going all out to lift the silverware.

“We have to travel to play an international team and it is going to be tough,” White said. “It is going to be like Ireland vs the Bulls and I’m not underplaying it.

“Ireland have beaten the All Blacks and many big teams. So, we have to work hard and get things to work in our favour in Dublin.

“We must recover well from bumps and bruises sustained in the semifinal and then we have to play very well.

“Look at what Leinster did to Glasgow in their semifinal and look at what Glasgow did to us last year.

“They did not struggle to beat Glasgow and will be on a high now going into a final at home.”

White expects the final to be decided on the finest of margins and says his team must remain composed throughout.

“Prayer is what we need and I don’t say this lightly. We need prayer. It will be different in Ireland [in] that the British & Irish Lions assemble while we are over there and the next week they play a warm-up game.

“I’m glad because the whole of Dublin will be rugby crazy. Our young players will experience something unique and special.

“I will work hard for the guys to enjoy it and be ready. People travel the world to hopefully see the underdogs win. That is what happens in sport.

“It is Leinster’s first appearance in a final since South Africa joined the URC. For both sides, it is a different challenge.

It’s nice to prove some people wrong and hopefully we can go again on Saturday and silence a few more critics

—  Leinster captain Jack Conan

“It doesn’t matter that we beat them last year in a knockout game. It is immaterial. It is now a final.

“It doesn’t matter what went before and we proved it [in the semifinal] — we lost twice to the Sharks but won the playoff game.

“We know how tough finals are. We lost a home final when everyone expected us to win and away from home we won games people expected us to lose.

“The Bulls need our senior guys who have been there and done it to impart their knowledge. We have Willie le Roux, who has won a World Cup, so have Marco van Staden and Canan Moodie.

“We also have guys who have played in finals. I want them to talk to each other about what works and what doesn’t.”

Leinster captain Jack Conan said his team would press the reset button after they stormed to victory over the Glasgow Warriors in their semifinal on Saturday.

“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves after the win over Glasgow and we know it is going to be a tough task against the Bulls,” he said.

“Though it was good to beat Glasgow by a big margin, it was disappointing to concede those two tries close to the end and there are lots of things we want to get better at.

“It will all count for nothing if we don’t go on and win again and show that level of dominance.

“We knew we had it in us. It’s nice to prove some people wrong and hopefully we can go again on Saturday and silence a few more critics.

“The history and the iconic nature of that stadium aren’t lost on us. We want to do right by that and be at our best again.”

The Herald