'Akin to American football the way Leinster approach their attack'
Leinster have laid down a marker in the first four rounds of the United Rugby Championship that they are more than capable of sweeping aside all before them this season, albeit that seems to be an annual occurrence.
The only unbeaten team in Europe's top three leagues, last season's Investec Champions Cup runners-up have gone from strength to strength with every week that has passed, boosted by the return of their sizeable Irish contingent in round three.
Their 26-12 victory over rivals Munster at Croke Park on Saturday rubber-stamped this early-season statement made by Leo Cullen's side, particularly their first-half display, where they raced to a 26-5 lead at the break, looking untouchable in the process.
In the wake of the victory, broadcaster Ryle Nugent described the URC as "outstanding to watch," likening their attacking structure to American football.
Joining the Off the Ball podcast recently, Nugent highlighted the "chaos" that the province create, which was a term frequently used during Stuart Lancaster's time in Dublin, pinpointing Hugo Keenan's try as a prime example of this.
"No one should have been surprised at the pace that Leinster started at, but everybody seemed to be, including the crowd and most definitely Munster.
"It's akin now to American football the way that Leinster approach their attack. There is a commitment from everybody to run lines and create that moment of chaos in the defender's head that you just don't know where it is going to go.
"The Hugo Keenan try was a perfect example of that. It comes to [Jamison] Gibson-Park in jig time, and he's then got [Ciaran] Frawley running one line, guys over on the left-hand side running lines, Liam Turner's running towards the touchline, and Keenan goes straight up. You have no idea where the ball is going to go.
"It really is outstanding to watch when it is in full flow and I can't imagine anything other than a nightmare to try and defend against."
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Love this guy. If he can get his fitness up he may well turn out in the green and gold 💪🇿🇦
Go to commentsIt's strange how Robertson picking the dame Crusader players as Foster is 'provincial bias'. The only crusader he has picked who Foster didn't is Noah Hotham, who's now not in the squad. Most of the Crusaders picked this year didn't play or hardly played Super Rugby this year. Will Jordan, Tamaiti Williams, Codie Taylor have all been great. Scott Barrett is our most experienced lock. Newell is our best scrummaging tighthead. Black adder has been good when fit. Havili is the third choice inside centre whos only played 20 odd minutes. Id be interested to hear which of those you have issues with and who you'd put in their place? Robertson's new picks Tosi, Ratima, and Sititi have all been among the best performers , none of whom play for the Crusaders. If you have an issue with his selections, fine, but accusing him of any Provincial bias is rather lazy and not supported by the facts.
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