Leinster are beatable, but we must stop them from starting well, says Bulls coach White

Bulls director of rugby Jake White said Irish powerhouses Leinster are beatable, even though they will be tough to crack on their home ground. 

The Bulls face them in their United Rugby Championship semi-final on Friday at the RDS Arena.

White, whose side lost 31-3 to Irish powerhouses in the opening game of the United Rugby Championship (URC), had the benefit of watching last week's Heineken Champions Cup final, where the Dublin side lost 24-21 to the French side, La Rochelle.

White said containing Leo Cullen's side in the first 20 minutes is one of the toughest tasks to get done, but La Rochelle did that and reaped the rewards.

The only difference is that the Bulls will have to do so in Dublin, a tough ask for any side, especially as they crushed the Glasgow Warriors 76-14 in a URC semi-final on Saturday. 

In the Champions Cup semi-final, they cruised past French giants Toulouse 40-17, from where they proceeded to falter in Marseilles.

"The one thing I learned from that game was that Leinster are beatable, and that gives us confidence," White said.

"However, you can't let them start well because you'll end up playing catch-up rugby. Against a team that good, it's hard to catch up against them.

"Leinster have been the one team that scores points in the first 20 minutes more than anyone else.

"Through circumstance and maybe through Leinster errors, they held them to a reasonable score at half-time.

"There were three or four opportunities where Leinster was coming at a hell of a speed, but fell victim to one or two bad options.

"Had they scored, as they do against most teams, they would have gone 21-0 up, and that's hard to win from."

White credited his side for showing enough ticker to get past a seasoned Sharks side in their tense