Leinster coach Leo Cullen says he hopes that the Vodacom Bulls can become a true rivalry for his team in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and is excited about the future battles these two teams could have.
“That’s the hope. Hopefully, this goes from strength to strength because you need the competition,” Cullen said ahead of the two teams’ Vodacom United Rugby Championship semi-final at the RDS Arena on Friday, and where Leinster are the obvious favourites.
“We’ve had great rivalry amongst the Irish provinces and some of our other VURC and Celtic opposition as well. I’ve grown up watching the South Africans when Super Rugby started. There were so many great players and there was a certain mystique as well as a kid watching those teams. It’s a great honour for us to be able to pit ourselves against the Vodacom Bulls, who are such an iconic team in South African rugby, and against Jake White as a World Cup-winning coach and what he adds to the competition. There was that period in Super Rugby where the Bulls were so dominant and some of the cricket scores they used to put on teams, particularly when they played at home. It’s something we have great respect for and we’re hugely excited about the next few years.”
Cullen said this extends to a keen desire amongst his star-studded Leinster team to play their first fixture against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
“We’re still so excited about getting to Loftus and playing there. We haven’t done that ourselves yet. We’re excited at some point in the next few years about getting down there and playing in front of a big crowd and experiencing that drive to the ground. It’s a hugely exciting challenge ahead.”
The Leinster coach was also full of praise for not just what the South African teams have brought to this first season of the competition, but what they can mean for its future as well.
“You can see what the South African teams have added to the tournament. There are two South African versus Irish games for the semi-finals, which I think is brilliant for the competition. It helps us in Ireland at the top end of the game. It’s battling the size and the power game that South Africa are renowned for. They’ve won World Cups off the back of delivering big, powerful performances. So a strong kicking game, and huge set pieces in terms of their focus and attention to detail. It’s a great challenge for us because it’s a different type of game to what the Celtic teams would generally play.”