Contepomi wary of Coetzee threat as Leinster prepare for Bulls
They may have marked themselves out as the team to beat in the United Rugby Championship with a 62-point hammering of Glasgow Warriors, but Felipe Contepomi insists Leinster aren’t expecting anything easy from the Bulls in the competition’s semi-final at the RDS this Friday (kick-off 7.35pm).
Much to the surprise of the province’s assistant coach, Glasgow offered little resistance to their Irish counterparts in the same venue last weekend. No fewer than 10 players crossed the whitewash as Leinster comfortably shook off their heartbreaking Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle with an astounding 76-14 victory and now Jake White’s South Africans are all that stands in the way of them reaching another showpiece decider.
“We’re expecting a very, very tough game because we know they are a quality team with quality players and they’re very, very well coached. We expect a tough game, but we were expecting that against Glasgow as well. The thing we always say is that you can only control what you can control and that control is our preparation,” Contepomi remarked yesterday.
“We needed to make sure that we prepared really well after a huge frustration with the Champions Cup final. The guys, fair play to them, were unbelievably diligent and very good. Not only the guys who played the game, but more so the guys that didn’t even have the chance to play the game. After that frustration, they put in such great work throughout the week and the preparation was brilliant.”
Thanks to a series of outstanding displays in the white of Ulster, Marcell Coetzee was voted as the Pro14 Players’ Player of the Season for 2020/21. He subsequently joined forces with the Bulls for the inaugural URC campaign and lined up alongside former Munster flanker Arno Botha last Saturday as the Pretoria men squeezed past the challenge of the Sharks in a home quarter-final.
Coetzee was always one to watch out for whenever Leinster faced Ulster in an interprovincial clash and this remains the case as far as Contepomi is concerned.
“He has always been a point of difference. Marcell Coetzee is not only a great player, but he’s a leader. He showed it when he was in Ulster, but now he’s leading that team down in Pretoria. I’ve got loads of time for him and I think he’s a brilliant player.”
Although Ronan Kelleher (shoulder) will definitely be marked absent for Friday’s game, Ireland international Hugo Keenan’s imminent return to full training should see him being available for selection. Jonathan Sexton (ankle), James Lowe (shin) and Tadhg Furlong (back) haven’t been ruled out just yet, but Contepomi acknowledged they won’t be taking any unnecessary risks with this triumvirate.
“We won’t put in someone that is not set to succeed, because it’s a semi-final and you need everyone to be 100% sure that they can be there to do the job for the team. Hopefully the three will be available, but we can’t say today for certain. We’ll give them as much time as we can,” Contepomi added.