In for the long haul, McCarthy aims to ‘rip’ into Bulls

Leinster can use their trip to South Africa to bond as they bid for a first trophy in three years, says Joe McCarthy.

Around 30 players, plus management and backroom staff are on Monday making their way to the Rainbow Nation ahead of Saturday’s BKT URC semi-final against Bulls (3pm, live on RTÉ).

Speaking after their 43-20 win over Ulster on Saturday, head coach Leo Cullen asked what was most likely a rhetorical question to the assembled media looking for any tips on how to book a long haul flight for a sizeable party at short notice.

“It’s a very unusual dynamic,” he said as the beaten Champions Cup finalists face into a first URC away play-off game since the more straightforward jaunt to Celtic Park for the 2019 final.

“I don’t want to bore you about the dynamics of how airlines do/don’t operate on the weekend, but there is multiple moving parts.

“I don’t know if you’ve booked many trips for 45 people on a Saturday night? If anyone has any advice?

“I don’t know [when we leave], the bags are packed. We’ll be setting sail all right. Maybe we’ll go on a boat.”

As awkward as the two-way trip will be, more so if they win and have to play a final on Saturday week, they find themselves at this juncture because of decisions made during the season.

Normally positioned top of the table, Leinster finished third, three points behind Munster and one behind Bulls.

Opting to send a second-string outfit to South Africa in April for games against Lions and Stormers, they came back without even a bonus point to their name.

A couple of weeks later they turned down a close-range penalty at goal against Ulster that would have given them a four-point lead. Ultimately, Ulster scored a late winner.

But, as Munster proved last season when going on an away run to the title, the adversity can benefit the team.

“I think it’s class,” McCarthy (above) told RTÉ Sport after his player of the match showing over Ulster.

“We’re buzzed. It will make us tighter. An away trip to South Africa will be a great challenge to get down there and we will embrace it because that is the path and we can’t change it.

“We are looking forward to travelling down there as a group. We’ll really enjoy the week and rip into it.

“There is a lot of history in [Loftus Versfeld] and you always hear about it.

“There’s definitely an extra buzz and we will have to be at our best to get a win.”

McCarthy was heavily involved in a lot of the grunt work as Leinster ran in six tries against Richie Murphy’s side at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

The 23-year-old won two turnovers, beat two defenders while make 32 metres. One of his 16 tackles prevented Nick Timoney from scoring an early try.

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“Oh, yeah, that one. It was good,” he said after getting a prompt. “They were putting a lot of pressure on us and I just about got under the ball.

“He came up short and I just about pulled him over and it is that new rule about holding him up and you know if you can hold them up over the line then it is a pretty good opportunity for your team.

“I have definitely been told to stick my head, not jump in there too many times, but if the [jackal] opportunity arrives I’ll have a crack at it and I do practice it a bit.

“There’s lot of good poachers there like [Ireland team-mate] Tadhg Beirne so it’s not something I think about too much but if the opportunity is there I will go for the ball.”

Watch highlights of all the weekend’s URC action on Against the Head, 7pm, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player

Watch the URC semi-final, Bulls v Leinster, on Saturday from 2.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1