McGrath's 'relief' at ending Leinster's trophy drought

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As the rain that Jake White had prayed for poured down and news of an injury to Jamison Gibson-Park also started to filter through, it was a nervous morning for many Leinster supporters on Saturday ahead of the BKT United Rugby Championship grand final.

They needn't have worried too much. The rain that many feared would play into the Bulls' strengths at the scrum ultimately worked in Leinster's favour as they destroyed the South African pack, while Gibson-Park's absence was never really felt as they raced out to a 19-0 lead, and cruised home 32-7.

Luke McGrath had been drafted into the starting team late on Thursday after Gibson-Park failed to get through the training week, and the 32-year-old looked controlled and assured as he dictated Leinster's attack which ripped through the Bulls for three tries in the opening quarter.

In particular, McGrath was a central character to the second of those scores. There looked to be nothing on when he shaped to box-kick on 13 minutes, but instead of launching a contestable kick to the sky, he delicately chipped the ball into the empty space between the Bull's front and back lines of defence, which Jordie Barrett (below) latched onto superbly for a wonderful try.

But rather than being a pre-rehearsed move, the Leinster scrum-half revealed the try was born from some quick thinking by Barrett.

"He [Barrett] actually said it to me a few minutes before that, when I hit a box-kick, he just said it [the chip] could be on, and 'just listen for me,'" McGrath said of his role in the try.

"But when he said it, it was quite late and I just thought, 'hopefully he gets to that ball' and look, he did, and it was a relief to see him go over the line."

Playing a significant part of the final was a just reward for McGrath, who has played 22 times this season across URC and Champions Cup.

A veteran of more than 230 Leinster appearances, the former Ireland international has been a big part of Leinster through both their good days and bad, winning five trophies in four seasons between 2018 and 2021, before enduring a four-year wait for silverware.

"It's amazing. It's more relief than anything that we got it done. The lads are so happy and the staff are so happy.

"I kind of knew during the week that there was a good possibility [I would be starting], just with Jamo's hamstring or whatever, so he gave me the nod that there was a bit of a possibility that I could do it.

"But I got told on Thursday, basically after training, that I would be starting. So nervous enough, obviously, but unbelievably excited and obviously it was an unbelievable day out there and one that I'll never forget.

"I thought we were really good as a team in the first half, we built that score and that allowed us to build into the second half a bit.

"I thought we were really clinical. The lads up front were brilliant in the scrum, the scrum penalties just kept the momentum going and it was a long time coming, so it's all that bit sweeter now."

After their official trophy lift out on the pitch, Leinster's players headed to the Hogan Stand (above) to raise the trophy a second time in a nod to their home for the day.

This was Leinster's fifth win from five games at Croke Park, with four of those coming in the last 13 months, and McGrath says they're getting used to playing at their rented home.

"It's unbelievably special, obviously we've played here three or four times now but every time we come here it's just a bit more [special], the players even feel it coming out, there's proper history here and it's incredible to play in front of a crowd like that today.

"And just doing the walk with that trophy, I've been to a few Dublin matches here over the years growing up and to do that walk with the trophy is pretty special, it's one that we'll never forget.

"We've lost finals in the last few years and it was really tricky, but all week we just spoke about the performance, we didn't speak much about the result. We said if we put in a performance that we can be proud of the result would like after itself.

"It was obviously really tough conditions out there with the rain and the set piece was so important, and that's where the lads were brilliant."