OTB regular and former Munster man Alan Quinlan joined Adrian and Eoin earlier to talk all things rugby ahead of the Champions Cup final showdown between Leinster and Racing 92 tomorrow evening.
Whilst Quinlan sees a Leinster win tomorrow, the two-time Heineken Cup winner stressed how important it is that Leinster stall any kind of early onslaught that Munster found themselves on the end of in their semi-final defeat to Racing, when they went 24-3 down after just 25 minutes.
“I’m like most people, I fancy Leinster to win.
“I’d be a little bit nervous and aware of the threat Racing pose.
“I think in an ideal world they [Racing] want to start a game like they did against Munster, get something on the board early and be in the game.
“If Leinster start like they did against Scarlets it’ll be big trouble for them because even though they have a lot of young players in the side there’s a great mix of experience as well.
“Some of the performances throughout the year, the away bonus point win in Glasgow, after that match I thought there’s something really steely about this side.”
Quinlan then went onto discuss the (still unbeaten) professional record from James Ryan, admitting his jealousy of the 21-year-old whilst also lauding the sheer consistency of Leinster performances this year.
“I’m envious [in regards to James Ryan’s unbeaten record as a pro] because when I would have started you’re losing games, you’re learning hard lessons along the way.
“These guys, it’s just been an upward trajectory throughout the season.
“You maybe possibly think then that they’re going to get a bit of a wallop at some point, something’s going to go wrong, they’re going to maybe under-perform but all the evidence suggests they’re really resilient, they’ve a lot of tenacity and they just believe every time they go out on the field they’re going to win.
The 2009 Grand Slam winner also compared the Leinster team to the great French Toulouse side, who won made three Heineken Cup finals in a row (winning two). With a Leinster win tomorrow, they would be leveling Toulouse's record total of four European Cups and Quinlan thinks it's a likely possibility if things go right tomorrow night, with several players set to compete for their fourth European Cup medals.
“This is phenomenal; they’re going to equal Toulouse’s record of winning four. Only two other players have done that.
“You look at their team sheet, you’re thinking the squad that they have at the moment, they’re capable of winning three or four of them if they get it right.
“It is hard to win trophies no matter who you are or how good you are, getting the job done is tricky so for anyone who thinks it’s going to be easy, they might have to dog it out tomorrow.
It might not be this free-flowing performance but the most important thing for them is to get the job done.”
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