In the Dark

The 2024/5 United Rugby Championship ended today with a convincing win by Leinster over the South African team Vodacom Bulls (who are based in Pretoria). The game was played this evening in torrential rain at Croke Park; Leinster emerged victorious in the inclement conditions by 32-7.

Leinster have had a habit of being front-runners in the league part of this competition, only to fall in the knockout stages. I was a bit concerned that this year might follow the same pattern, as the Bulls have had considerable success agains Leinster over the years and Leinster failed to perform against Northampton in the European Champions Cup in a game they were expected to win. It was also a blow that one of their best players, scrum-half Jameson Gibson-Park was withdrawn from the squad this morning owing to injury. In the end, however, it wasn’t even a very close game, Leinster’s defence proving so solid that the Bulls could penetrate it only once.

The last time Leinster won the United Rugby Championship – way back in 2021 – it wasn’t even called the United Rugby Championship: it was called the Pro14, although two teams were not able to play that year because of Covid-19 restrictions so there were only 12 teams in it. The incorporation of four South African teams (Bulls, Stormers, Sharks and Lions) increased the number of teams to 16 and made it a much more difficult competition. I still think it is too long, though. The games featuring the Irish teams in this competition (Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster) are broadcast free-to-air on television here and I watch quite a few of them. There are 16 teams in this competition, divided into four pools of four: each side plays the 15 others once, and an additional game against the other three in their pool, meaning 18 games per team. After 18 rounds, all that happens is that the bottom eight in the league table are eliminated and the top eight go into the knockout stage. Eighteen games is a long slog when all it does is eliminate half the teams, and it means that there’s much less at stake in individual matches. Still, now the Six Nations is over I’ll be watching the URC for the rest of the season, starting next weekend.