Garry Ringrose could be the spark Leinster need at Loftus Versfeld

When Leinster and the Bulls met at the RDS back at the end of March, it felt like there was every chance they would be locking horns again by the summer.

What we didn't expect was a play-off rematch to be happening in Pretoria rather than Dublin.

Leinster’s impressive 47-14 win, and the weekend’s other results, saw the province move five points clear at the top of the BKT United Rugby Championship table by Easter Sunday, nine ahead of the Bulls in third, with Munster a further two points further back.

That night at the RDS, it looked like Leinster were on the march towards the league’s top seed. They traded blows with the South Africans in a brilliant first half and trailed 14-12 at half-time, only to score 35 unanswered points after the break.

They looked ruthless, exciting, and primed to hit the business end of the season like a wrecking ball.

Bulls coach Jake White, never afraid of firing a few press conference grenades, could only sit back and praise his hosts that evening, even if the Bulls had grounds for appeal after Leinster’s Luke McGrath was lucky to escape a red card at a crucial stage in the game.

"The one thing that Leinster have taught me tonight and reaffirmed is the ability for them to go into transition from defence into attack, it was phenomenal," White said at the RDS that night.

"Every time we made a mistake they punished us."

So how did they end up at Loftus Versfeld this weekend?

Following that impressive win, the province kept the ball rolling across the next fortnight, swatting aside Leicester Tigers and La Rochelle in the Champions Cup, before their desire for a fifth star on their jersey saw them take their eye off the ball in the URC.

Wrapping their frontline players in cotton wool, they sent a