Leinster and Ireland fullback Hugo Keenan spoke with the media following the province’s 29-25 victory over RC Toulon at the Aviva Stadium to reach the Investec Champions Cup Final.
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With the province’s victory in the semi-final yesterday, either Bordeaux or Bath awaits Leinster in Bilbao on the 23rd of May at the San Mames Stadium, the site of Leinster’s last Champions Cup triumph.
Ahead of today’s semi-final between the English side and the defending champions, the international fullback previewed the threat that both teams offer, with Leinster preparing for the biggest stretch of their season over the next three weeks. The Irish side narrowly avoided a significant comeback from Toulon, who came back from 29-11 to make it 29-24 with minutes left in the game.
“And yeah, Bordeaux, Bath, whoever it will be, will be a serious, serious challenge. And finals are all about those sort of little moments in the last last ten minutes and we have to learn from that and learn from the previous sort of losses and situations that we’ve been in. Another bit of an ugly win at the end but a win is a win and we’re exactly where we want to be so that’s the main thing.”
“Yeah, potentially, I know we’ll be just looking at it from our point of view about getting our performance right, about making sure that we turn up on the day we’re not too concerned whether we’re underdogs or favorites or whatnot. The final, it’s always going to be tough. It’s such a tough competition, as we’ve learned over the last couple of years, to get there. You’re always going to be facing someone very, very good.”
With Bordeaux or Bath looming on the horizon, the Leinster fullback will be faced with some of the most dangerous back-three threats in Rugby, with either 2026 Guinness Six Nations top scorer Louis-Bielle-Biarrey, French star Damien Penaud, and Salesi Rayasi for Bordeaux, or international stars like Santiago Carreas, Henry Arundell, and Will Muir awaiting them for Bath.
However, the international 15 was granted an early training session yesterday with Toulon’s back 3, which included both Melvyin Jaminet and the tournament’s top scorer, Gael Drean.
“We talked about his (Jaminet) ability off the tee, that he’s got such a big boot that we have to, I suppose, be disciplined and not give them any sort of easy kickable goals from even 50, 60 metres out he can slot it over and then obviously his long-range kicking game out of hand as well is a huge sort of territorial sort of pressure threat from their perspective. So yeah, we were scouting him. I suppose we’ve known for a little bit who we’re going to be facing.”
“The likes of Gael Dreyan, I hadn’t played against before. Yeah, they’ve got class amongst their whole back line, don’t they? There’s good strength and depth from their sides. But in a semi-final, you’re going to be expecting the best of the best, and that’s why I love these occasions, challenging myself against those sorts of players. “
With Toulon’s attack thriving in the dying minutes of yesterday’s Semi-Final, Leinster were dealt an early blow, with Robbie Henshaw leaving the game early. This forced the Irish fullback to play 80 minutes of rugby, with Jamie Osborne coming off the bench to replace Henshaw.
“Yeah, it’s never ideal losing someone so early. We were 5-3, though. Jamie was ready. He’s obviously been playing so well this season; he’s more than capable of stepping up. It’s competition, strength, and depth across the board. So yeah, luckily we were 5-3 because you can be stung on those decisions. I know they were 6-2. It was unfortunate losing Robbie, but I thought Jamie came on and did well. “
With Keenan missing most of the Six Nations through injury, it was Osborne who came in to replace him at test level, being ranked as one of the top performers of the tournament by Ruck. Tommy O’Brien, who also featured heavily yesterday and throughout the tournament, brought international experience after playing for Ireland, being named one of the players of the tournament for the country.
“Yeah, that will stand to those two lads. Like, there are lads who missed out today as well, like Frawley, like Jimmy O’Brien, who are knocking on the door, JJ Kenny as well, so there’s huge strength and depth, and the more we can get that sort of top test level experience amongst the whole group is as beneficial for us all.”
Both O’ Brien and Osborne will be expected to feature in the final in Bilbao. The last time Leinster made the final in 2024, losing to Toulouse, the Irish center started while O’Brien was not in the squad. Similar to Keenan, who was still in the academy and not part of the squad the last time Leinster traveled to Bilbao in 2018, their last Champions Cup victory.
“So, I was still in the academy, still annoyed that we weren’t flown over for the occasion, but I think we were watching it as a sort of academy group in the rugby club, as far as I can remember, and I remember watching on and the celebrations and being so proud of the group.”
“That’s been a huge motivator. Obviously, I haven’t gotten my hands on the trophy since, and it’s a big personal goal, it’s a big squad goal. It has been for the last number of years, so we’re going to do our best to support.”
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