BOD Almighty (picture http://bit.ly/1pus392)
THIS IS IT! Finals day all over Europe, for a season that got going in August!
Leinster can sign off in style by beating Glasgow tonight…or they can end their season with a question mark with a loss. This is a sum of Mark O’Connor’s first season. There’s no doubt that the scrum has seen a huge improvement, with Leinster’s starting and bench front rows basically no 1 and 2 for Ireland as well. And the defense is as good as ever, able to contain most attacks. It’s the backline play that has gone into decline, Leinster’s attack used to have rythym, they could push the button at the right time and just destroy teams. Apart from Saints away, we haven’t really seen that this year. And Madigan is still on the bench for tonight, so I don’t think we’ll see pyrotechnics from them tonight either.
Glasgow have a good all round team, superb defense, and real game breakers on the bench. They also have momentum, and a win today would cap two good seasons. But…Leinster have home advantage, and they are alos saying goodbye to two massive players, BOD Almighty, and Leo Cullen. It’s hard to put into words the impact BOD has had on Leinster over years, helping turn them from competitors into Kings of Europe, with crucial breaks, turnovers and tackles. Leo too, brought an edge to the pack that helped take them to another level. This is their sign off, the Leinster crowd is going to fanatical in their support. If the final was in Glasgow, I’d be going with Glasgow, but at home, saying goodbye to BOD, I’m saying Leinster with a good win.
Elsewhere, I fancy Northampton to take Saracens out, the Saints are on a roll, and Saracens loss to Toulon took a lot out of them, physically and mentally.
And finally, I’m going with Castres, don’t know why but I think that they just have steely nerve in finals that gets them over the line.
Saturday , May 31
Leinster vs Glasgow
Toulon vs Castres
Saracens vs Northampton
Sunday , June 1
England vs Barbarians 15:00
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