Durban - There could not have been a juicier scene setter for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final than the weekend’s extraordinary events in Dublin where La Rochelle and Leinster provided an extravaganza for the ages.
As a precursor, a Toulon team inspired by a pugnacious Cheslin Kolbe at fullback outclassed the Glasgow Warriors. The French invasion ramped up another level the next day when La Rochelle stormed the Leinster barricades to clinch back-to-back Champions Cup victories.
It was a result most did not predict. And when Leinster blasted out of the block to lead 17-0 within 15 minutes, only the diehards from the port city on the west coast of France still believed.
But what then transpired would have given the Stormers food for thought. The French forwards rolled up their sleeves and, inch by inch, turned the screws on their Leinster counterparts.
Possession dried up for the boys in blue and they would spend nearly all of the second half tackling for their lives.
La Rochelle were particularly dominant in the set scrums and the rolling mauls as they squeezed the life out of Leinster.
This is how you beat Irish teams and — Boks take note — Ireland. They do not boast fearsome tight fives. They can be taken on and dominated in that facet. And when you get that right, all of that fancy phase play drains away like a keg of Guinness on St Patrick’s Day.
Munster, like Leinster can rattle up 20 phases with machine-like precision. They manouevre the ball from touchline to touchline thanks to their dominance of the breakdown — Irish loose forward play is the best in the world. A gap in the defence will inevitably come and the ensuing strike is deadly.
Given that the Leinster team was not far off duplicating the Ireland side, the dismantling of their forward pack has psychological ramifications for the approaching World Cup. La Rochelle has some key French forwards, notably the magnificent Gregory Alldritt, but they do not approximate the French national team in the way Leinster does Ireland yet they had power to burn.
Munster, like Leinster, have fine loose forwards and a tidy tight five that is to respected but not feared. The Stormers can do a La Rochelle and strike a blow for their national team while winning the main prize.
Ireland and South Africa are pool mates in France, of course. A dominant Stormers effort up front at the Cape Town Stadium will not only secure them the URC crown, but achieve far more for the Boks than any training camp.
After the events of Dublin, it is a touch amusing that the European season draws to a close in South Africa. The Cape Town Stadium will witness the last act. The Stormers have seen the script. They know what to do.
@MikeGreenaway67
IOL Sport