HAVING BEEN ON the receiving end of some tough knockout defeats on the far side of the city last season, Leinster forward Ryan Baird was understandably pleased to be able to come out on the right end of a close battle with Northampton Saints at Croke Park last weekend.

Just seven days after playing the full 80 minutes of their 16-15 reversal to Munster at the semi-final stage of the United Rugby Championship in the Aviva Stadium, Baird featured off the bench in the final-quarter of Leinster’s loss to La Rochelle in a Champions Cup decider at the same venue on 20 May, 2023.

Ronan O’Gara’s Top 14 outfit came from 17 points behind to claim back-to-back European titles at the expense of the Irish province and it was almost a case of déjà vu in GAA HQ six days ago.

20-3 in front with just under an hour gone on the clock, Leinster were subsequently rocked by the concession of successive converted tries to George Hendy and Tom Seabrook. This opened up the possibility of Northampton pulling off a spectacular comeback victory, but despite going 37 minutes without registering a score, Baird and his Leinster colleagues eventually found their way over the line.

“I think it’s natural to feel the nerves, but to have been in that position where we have been on the other side, I was like, ‘I am not letting this f***ing happen again. We are not letting this f***ing happen again’. Go attack this game, go attack it now, these last few minutes,” Baird recalled at a media briefing in UCD earlier this week.

“They had that tap penalty, then we got a penalty and then we got the lineout. We were like, ‘Let’s go attack this, finish this and get into the final’. We didn’t go into our shells. We were like ‘No, we’re going to win this game’. We’re delighted to be in the final and credit to Northampton the way they fought back in the last 30 minutes.”

While he was asked on a number of occasions for his thoughts on the forthcoming Champions Cup showpiece against Toulouse at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in just over a fortnight’s time, Baird was reluctant to switch his focus away from Leinster’s URC bout with Ospreys at the RDS tomorrow evening.

Even though he acknowledges the perception of the Champions Cup being the more prestigious competition, the versatile Ireland international insisted Leinster will be approaching the URC with the same level of ambition.

Despite previously winning the Guinness Pro14 for four years on the bounce, the Blues haven’t tasted league success since it was rebranded as the United Rugby Championship ahead of the 2021/22 season.

Baird missed out their semi-final defeat at home to the Bulls at the end of that particular campaign – as well as the last-gasp loss to La Rochelle in another Champions Cup final in Marseille 13 days earlier – but he is as eager as anyone to make amends for two barren terms without a major trophy.

“Coming away trophy-less for the last two years is no bueno as they say in Spanish. Who doesn’t want to achieve the double? That’s our objective. We are in a league and we are in a cup and we want to win both.

“Losing the final of the Champions Cup or losing in the semi of the URC, both hurt as much because you put as much time into both competitions. One is perceived to be bigger, but the work that goes into both is equal. Therefore you want the same output, which is a trophy.”

Although there are expected to be some changes to his starting 15 from the one that saw off the challenge of Northampton, Leinster head Leo Cullen has stated he will be fielding strong line-outs for both tomorrow’s encounter against Ospreys (which will be named later on today) and next weekend’s URC clash with Ulster at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.

Given the Northampton game represented his first appearance for Leinster since the Champions Cup quarter-final win over La Rochelle three weeks earlier, Baird is hungry for an immediate return to competitive fare.

“If I get to play this week, I’d be really excited because I get to build on momentum from last week. I’m not keeping the powder dry, I’d love to get out there again,” Baird added.

“I’m thinking, ‘How can I be a better player?’, forget the occasion, but ‘Can I get better this week? Can I get better next week?’ If I get to play this week it’s another opportunity to see what I’m like under pressure.

“We’re second in the table, we need to push to get back up top. People might be distracted by the Champions Cup, but there’s a hell of a lot on the line for us in the URC to get that top seed.”

Daire Walsh