Leinster rugby

After four years of domination, Leinster boss Leo Cullen has admitted their reality is now very different with the South Africans involved.

You are up against the world champion country, you see the talent pool that is down there in terms of the big schools, universities and everything will be feeding into the four franchises. How, though, there are new kids on the block and while the South Africans were initially collectively flakey in the opening months, the gallop they have since generated has shattered the perception that this tournament would only ever be an Irish-dominated event. As powerful and brilliant as his team were to watch when swaggering to their four successive titles, the across-the-board competitiveness of the PRO14 had been a damaging issue compared to its rival Top 14 and Premiership leagues. However, when it comes to clinching trophies, especially with the South Africans now muscling in on their territory, there appears to be a gap between numerous first-choice assets and the next man up. So much is made of their production line and loads of their excellent young talent are easy on the eye. The Leinster that Cullen now helms is a powerhouse, their four-in-a-row run of PRO14 league titles decorated by a fourth European star when the double was clenched in 2018.