As 2025 kicks into gear Leinster are once again head and shoulders above the other Irish provinces.
After a hard-fought victory in their pivotal Champions Cup match away to La Rochelle, Leo Cullen’s side remain undefeated on top of their pool, while in the URC the D4 men are 10 points clear of their nearest rivals with the other Irish provinces languishing behind them, Ulster in ninth, Munster in 11th and Connacht in 13th.
In November’s international Test against Australia, the starting Irish XV consisted of five players developed overseas in New Zealand and Australia and, except for Robbie Henshaw, all the rest were products of the Leinster schools and Academy system.
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Those numbers reveal an uncomfortable truth that without the Leinster player production line and the qualifying of overseas-born players, Irish rugby would not be in the position of dominance it now enjoys.
Those facts are hard for the rugby community outside Leinster to accept. This denial of the bleeding obvious has led many in the other provinces to believe the lie that a pro-Leinster agenda is being pushed within the Irish rugby media.
At this point, supporters of the Irish national team have to choose between believing that Leinster have somehow been given an unfair advantage over all the other provinces by a cabal inside the IRFU who wish to keep the rest of Irish rugby in a state of degradation, or you can accept the reality that Leinster’s consistently high-level success is because their organisation has diligently completed the vast and complex list of internal processes that empowers elite sporting organisations to accomplish success across multiple seasons.
The first and foremost of these is retaining key leaders within the organisation for extended periods of time. Leinster have had only two CEOs in 25 years and Leo Cullen, who has wisely been recontracted for another two seasons, has led a rugby programme since 2015 that is the envy of clubs across the globe.
Compare that to Munster, where the number of former head coaches since 2016 reads as long as a list of Elizabeth Taylor’s former husbands.
Despite reaching the Champions Cup final five times in seven years, many irrationally label Leinster and Cullen as failures. I can promise you that, outside of Ireland, Leinster’s consistency is spoken about with awe in rugby circles.
The lack of rugby intellect by those who describe Leinster as failures was personified in last year’s Champions Cup final when Ciaran Frawley’s drop goal attempt to win the match in the dying moments shaved the posts. Sadly, as it missed, the rest of Ireland cheered and ridiculously Cullen was castigated because of that defeat.
A few weeks later in Natal, now wearing a green jersey, Frawley’s next drop goal, that was perhaps 60cm centimetres to the right of the one in the Champions Cup final, sent Irish fans into rapture and Andy Farrell was hailed as a great leader. Neither Farrell or Cullen had any responsibility for those drop goals.
One of Leinster’s greatest strengths is that their players are held accountable. Coaches help design and prepare the match game plan but players are responsible for implementing that plan.
Last October after the Munster players put in the worst defensive display I have ever witnessed from a team wearing the famous red jersey, as the Sharks dissected them in Durban, head coach Graham Rowntree was soon dismissed and the players who missed so many tackles were let off the hook.
What many in Ireland do not appreciate is that in last year’s Champions Cup final Leinster’s team contained 19 players who were products of the province. That number of home-grown players in one highly-successful team is unprecedented across the globe. The Super Rugby and Top 14 clubs regard the Leinster system of player development as the best in the world.
All national teams rise or fall on the success of the system that sits below them. It is the Irish provinces’ responsibility to produce the players with the physical and mental skills capable of winning on the international stage.
As the internal systems being implemented by Leinster have dramatically improved, so too has the success of the national team.
The successful Australian system of the 1990s and early 2000s, which produced two World Cup wins and a losing final in 2003, was underpinned by a simple yet powerful strategy based on internal competition between the Australian provinces. In very crude terms, if you wanted to survive as an individual and as a team you had to fight your way over those in front of you.
It was an utterly ruthless rugby version of Squid Game. You could not pull your opponent down to a lower level, you had to fight, scratch and wrestle over the top of the current number one. As a rising tide lifts all boats, the raising of standards lifts everyone’s performance.
Sadly, as the standard of the Australian provinces declined so did the performances of the Wallabies.
The begrudgers in Ireland must never be permitted to pull Leinster down. That would commence a disastrous decline within Irish rugby, following along the same path as Australia toward mediocrity.
As Leinster continue to dominate the other provinces must simply say: we will not pull you down to a lower standard but we will strive to get better than you and create an even higher level of success. In reality, Ulster, Munster and Connacht have a long and hard journey to undertake before they can say that mission has been achieved.
