Players from both sides were involved in the altercation at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday
Leinster’s United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Stormers on Saturday turned feisty at half-time, when a brawl broke out in the tunnel at the Aviva Stadium.
Players from both sides became embroiled in an altercation in Dublin on Saturday, during Leinster’s 20-11 victory. The incident was caught on camera and appeared to be sparked when Leinster’s Thomas Clarkson and the Stormers’ Connor Evans began exchanging shoves.
The confrontation escalated to involve almost all players from both camps, with Ireland and Lions stars Joe McCarthy, James Ryan and James Lowe right in the mix.
The scuffle was eventually defused as the teams headed back to their respective dressing rooms.
Leinster were leading at that stage, having been 13-8 up at the break thanks to a score by All Black Rieko Ioane and two Sam Prendergast penalties.
The visitors had battled their way back to trail by just five points at the interval, but their evening worsened when Leolin Zas was dispatched to the sin bin.
Ruan Ackermann was then shown a red card for a dangerous clean-out, and the Stormers were subsequently reduced to 13 men after Salmaan Moerat received a yellow card.
The Irish province wrapped up victory through a late Jamison Gibson-Park try to clinch a 20-11 win and book their place in the URC final against the Bulls, potentially at Croke Park.
The Ireland scrum-half was awarded Player of the Match and conceded that Leinster had made things harder for themselves than necessary.
“They are a class side,” said Gibson-Park. “We have a lot of respect for them.
“Good bit of history there but I suppose the main thing is we were able to get over the line.
“I think we made it pretty difficult for ourselves but I suppose that is a credit to the Stormers.”
A notable subplot heading into Saturday’s fixture was the position of Jacques Nienaber.
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The World Cup-winning Springboks coach admitted on Monday that he does not feel valued in his role as senior coach — yet Cullen insists Leinster are fortunate to have him.
Following the latest Champions Cup final disappointment, attention shifted at the start of the week away from Cullen’s own future towards that of the man he brought in to succeed Stuart Lancaster.
Nienaber, who has a year remaining on his current contract, suggested that external criticism could ultimately put his position at risk. However, Cullen has firmly backed his senior coach — and the coaching structure that has come under intense scrutiny following the heavy final defeat to Bordeaux in Bilbao.
“There has been evolution year on year,” said Cullen. “You’ve got to be able to deliver the plan, who is delivering messages and when, and then deliver team performance. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that.
“It’s a collaborative process. There’s a sense that people want to pick holes in us at the moment. I’m not sure why, but we’ve got ourselves to a final, so we’re clearly doing well
“We’re constantly trying to improve. Next week, win, lose or draw, we’ll have a proper deep dive into how we want to evolve our game and that direction of travel.”
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