While Leinster coaches battle the media, the Stormers smell blood in Dublin

In professional sport you need to take any edge you can to win, especially away from home. With that in mind, the Stormers will be privately pleased at the apparent fallout between Leinster’s coaching staff and the media following the Irish side’s Champions Cup final defeat against Bordeaux Bègles.

There is some blood in the water in Dublin.

Leinster, who are the current United Rugby Championship (URC) champions, have made no bones that winning the Champions Cup is their No 1 priority.

The URC title is not as prized in Dublin as being the European champions. While that ambition is laudable, it comes with an inevitable backlash when it continually fails.

Since 2019, Leinster have played in five Champions Cup finals, including the 2026 final against Bordeaux in Bilbao on 23 May, and lost all of them.

This year’s defeat was the worst in terms of scoreline: they were trounced 41-19 by the French high-flyers.

The margin and manner of defeat have gone down in Dublin about as well as a glass of water drunk directly from the Liffey.

The rancour stemming from an agitated media has become louder, leading to head coach Leo Cullen having some terse exchanges with local hacks.

Asked if he was under pressure after a fifth Champions Cup loss in eight years, and the backlash that came with it, Cullen snapped at the reporter: “What are you talking about? What kind of pressure, specifically? I haven’t seen it. What backlash? Specifically. Any Leinster fans specifically? Nobody’s come to my face yet with this.

“I’m not on social media, so you’ll have to explain this one to me. I’m not a fan of social media because I think it’s very negative and toxic; that would be my experience.”

Nienaber lashes out

The ill-feeling has spread even further with former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber, who is Leinster’s “senior coach”, in a row with the Irish media, while also revealing that he might not be receiving all the support he’d like at the club.

Nienaber has regularly been scapegoated by the Irish media when Leinster lose and given scant praise when they win.

His high-press defensive style has been criticised as undermining the Irish way, with some pundits saying what worked for the Boks does not translate to Irish rugby.

Nienaber seemed to reach boiling point at a press conference earlier this week.

In early 2025, the Irish Independent’s Rúaidhrí O’Connor, a respected rugby writer, wrote that Leinster and Ireland rugby had made a “deal with the devil” by hiring the 2023 World Cup-winning coach.

It’s clearly a statement that has been gnawing away at Nienaber.

“If, like he said, I’m ‘a devil’... So if it’s according to him [O’Connor], probably not,” said Nienaber, in response to a question if he would be at Leinster next season.

Nienaber suggested that his future at the club would be decided by popular opinion, rather than from within.

“Let me put it to you this way. Who fires you? Do you know who fires you? The public, the media,” he said.

“Not the CEO, not Shane [Nolan, the Leinster CEO]. He doesn’t fire me, but you guys fire us, fire all coaches, because the pressure builds up and builds up, and the fans then build the pressure on them, and then they [the board] just ask this and say, ‘Listen, lads, I think we must part ways.’

“When I say ‘you guys’, I’m saying the media. There’s a misconception that people get fired by the CEOs. That is because of pressure put on CEOs by the boards, by people listening.

“Let’s say the board member has dinner with his mates and his friends, and they go, ‘Sheesh, that Nienaber, you signed a deal with the devil, man.’ I’m quoting Rúaidhrí there: ‘You signed a deal with the devil, you need to get rid of that devil, he’s killing Irish rugby’. That is how you get fired.

“So, your question is: ‘Listen, am I going to be here?’ I hope so, okay. Currently, I’m not sure, to be honest. Because I don’t think people value me here. They don’t value me here. They don’t.”

While Nienaber’s statements squarely pointed the finger at the media when it comes to external pressure, there was also a subtext that he might not be as well supported within Leinster’s internal structures.

What is obvious is that Leinster’s fixation on the Champions Cup is becoming a burden.

Players themselves described the European quest as an “obsession.” Cullen, who won the trophy as a player, has been similarly candid. Before the final in Bilbao, he acknowledged having visited the city the previous November as part of his “mental process during the course of the season”, saying: “This is what you want; every year you want to get to finals.”

The nature of the season means that the Champions Cup final took place before the URC quarterfinals were played.

In that context, it can make the URC feel like an afterthought for a club that makes its Champions Cup ambition the centrepiece of its season.

Stormers prepare

For the Stormers, Leinster’s internal turmoil might be an advantage, or the Irish side could use it as motivational fuel.

The Stormers left SA on Monday night without flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, whose ankle injury in the 44-21 quarterfinal win over Cardiff was a huge blow.

SFM has been in good form, and while it’s a setback for the 2022 champions, it’s also a setback for the player personally, as he is likely to miss much of the Test season.

For the Stormers’ director of rugby, John Dobson, it’s hardly ideal, but in Jurie Matthee the Stormers have a very good, if vastly different, type of playmaker at flyhalf for the semifinal.

On the positive front, the Stormers enjoy a double boost following injury scares to two of their most experienced players ahead of the semifinal in Dublin.

“Ruben van Heerden [lock] is travelling, as is Dan du Plessis [centre]. Seabelo [Senatla] is unfortunately not looking good following his concussion,” said forwards coach Rito Hlungwani.

“In terms of that, at the moment we’re looking okay. Seabelo is a big loss, but we’ll still go on fine without him. Injuries are part of the game. It’s always tough losing players, but it’s also an opportunity for other players to step up. Sometimes we plan for those scenarios, and it’s something we feel we can handle.” DM