Irish rugby legend Tony Ward has branded Leinster as “arrogant”, accusing them of losing touch with their core support and calling for Stuart Lancaster to be brought back to the club.
Senior coach Lancaster was at the heart of the attacking rugby that resulted in a 2018 Champions Cup/PRO14 title double as well as winning league titles in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Lancaster, who exited Leinster in summer 2023, is currently a free agent having been sacked earlier this year as director of rugby at Racing 92.
His exit in Dublin was followed by the recruitment of Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber. However, the South African’s approach has resulted in Leinster becoming a more defence-focused team and this tactic hasn’t ended their ongoing trophy drought.
The current set-up under Leo Cullen was heavily criticised last month in the wake of the Champions Cup semi-final exit to Northampton and their progress since then to next Saturday’s United Rugby Championship semi-final against Glasgow hasn’t lifted the gloom.
So unenthused have Leinster fans been that their quarter-final win over Scarlets last Saturday took place in front of a disappointing attendance of just 12,879 – well below the Aviva Stadium average crowd of 20,113 that had attended their previous eight home matches in the league at that ground.
“Eerie absence of raw emotion…”
This level of absenteeism, despite Leinster fielding an XV featuring nine of their 12 British and Irish Lions picks along with All Black Jordie Barrett, resulted in head coach Cullen pleading for fans to return for next Saturday’s semi-final versus the Warriors.
In the meantime, retired Ireland out-half Ward – who played provincially for both Leinster and Munster – has branded Leinster as “arrogant” for the way they are going about their business.
Reflecting on last weekend’s quarter-finals which saw Munster eliminated after a penalty shootout at the Sharks and Leinster labouring to their win over Scarlets, Ward wrote in The Herald: “What is certain is that Munster did us proud in defeat in Durban whereas Leinster moved on as expected.
“But there was an eerie absence of raw emotion in Dublin – on and off the field. If I am missing something here, please tell me.
“The attendance was minuscule given the significance of the occasion and, while there were a number of extraneous reasons, Leinster at the moment are losing touch with their so-called core support. Anyone suggesting otherwise is deluding themselves.
“Rugby folk might not like hearing this, but in other rugby-playing nations – not least those of our Celtic cousins – we are getting a reputation of being arrogant. Specifically, I am referring to Leinster, and while I still expect them to win this competition overall, they are anything but the sum of their parts on current form.
“They did all they had to do to set up the visit of Glasgow for next weekend’s semi-final but little more and quite a lot less. What I would give to have Stuart Lancaster back on board, dictating the tempo and the playing philosophy on Leinster’s side of the ball.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/leinster-accused-of-being-arrogant-and-losing-touch-with-core-support-by-ireland-great-amid-calls-for-the-return-of-stuart-lancaster
