Leinster welcomed South African side The Stormers to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening for the final round of URC fixtures ahead of the 2025 Six Nations.
While in years gone by Leinster might have fielded a second-string team, the presence of Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman, Ross Byrne, Dan Sheehan and James Lowe saw Leo Cullen's men run out emphatic 36-12 winners under the lights in Dublin.
Despite Leinster's win being both emphatic and deserved, Stormers' captain Deon Fourie was unimpressed with the way the Boys in Blue conducted themselves at the lineout, accusing them of unsportsmanlike conduct.
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25 January 2025; JD Schickerling of DHL Stormers and RG Snyman of Leinster contest a lineout during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and DHL Stormers at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Stormers captain unhappy with Leinster's lineout conduct
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Fourie revealed he was unhappy with how much noise the Leinster players made defending lineouts, claiming it crossed a line.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this…but there’s a certain line where sportsmanship comes into play.
I won’t mention names who did it, but them running numbers and shouting while we must call our line-outs and then we can’t hear what we must do or react on our calls.
While Fourie explained that he had brought the issue up with the referee Eoghan Cross who had taken charge of the game on late notice due to Storm Éowyn, he felt his calls had fallen on deaf ears.
I asked the referee a few times to stop it, but it didn’t work, for me it’s unsportsmanlike and it’s not good for the game.
Otherwise, this game is just going to be a shouting game in the future.
Despite the lineout issue, elsewhere on the field there was plenty of respect on display, with the Stormers clapping Luke McGrath off after his injury, both sets of players consistently helping each other off the ground and at times stopping to help injured opposition.
From a Leinster perspective, the lineout seemed to function significantly better under the management of Dan Sheehan, who returned to professional action with a bang last night, topping off his captaincy with two tries and a man of the match award.
James Lowe also impressed, proving himself particularly dangerous out wide and setting up Dan Sheehan for his second try with a brilliant kick. While Jordie Barrett and Andrew Osbourne also proved particularly impactful on the night.
Leinster will now enjoy a two-week break from URC action as the Six Nations gets underway, with both James Lowe and Dan Sheehan set to join up with the Irish squad in Portugal ahead of their tournament opener against England next Saturday.
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