Pat Spillane Brutally Explains Why Leinster Cannot Be Compared To Mayo

For Leinster fans, it must be starting to feel like they will never get over the line on the biggest stage again.

After three successive Champions Cup final defeats over the past three seasons, Leinster crashed out at the semi-final stage on Saturday after a shock defeat to Northampton to Dublin.

Since Leinster last won Europe's premier competition in 2018, they have lost four Champions Cup finals, two semi-finals and one quarter-finals. Between 2012 and 2021, the great 'nearly-men' of Gaelic football, Mayo, lost six All-Ireland finals and three semi-finals.

It is a similarity that has led to Leinster being referred to as the "Mayo of rugby" by Munster and Ireland legend Tony Ward.

Though the tag "bottlers" is one that has been applied to Leinster by many naysayers with increasing regularity in recent years, the comparison with Mayo is one that Kerry legend Pat Spillane finds completely unfair.

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Eight-time All-Ireland winner Spillane went on an impassioned rant on the Indo Sport podcast this week in the aftermath of Leinster's shocking loss to Northampton.

🗣️ "It's so wrong to compare Leinster with Mayo."

🗣️ "These Leinster players are the darlings of the media, the darlings of corporate Ireland."

🗣️ "They get increased contracts. They get more sponsorship."

🗣️ "We glorify failure in rugby - it's an old boys network."

Pat… pic.twitter.com/tqxpDe89wi

— Irish Independent Sport (@IndoSport) May 7, 2025

On duty to discuss the provincial finals and upcoming All-Ireland football finals, Spillane got sidetracked and ripped into the Leinster failures of recent years.

The Kerryman said that it was "wrong" to compare Leinster to Mayo, calling the rugby stars "media darlings," and saying that they deserved more criticism for their failure to get over the line than the Mayo players who were "doing it for the love of the county."

"I have great affection for Mayo," began Spillane. "Mayo people, Mayo as a county, and Mayo footballers down through the years. They're warriors, they would die with their boots on.

I was looking at all the jokes last weekend, 'Ah, Leinster are the Mayo of rugby' - that's unfair.

The most highly paid, professional team in the British Isles added two world class players in Snyman and Jordie Barrett, and they failed yet again. And they're professionals! They're paid to do a job and, when they're defeated, they deserve to be criticised.

I look at the analysis of rugby and it's a cosy little setup. It's an old boys' network, it's a school network, they're all pally-wally with each other, there's no serious or critical analysis.

I look at the Irish rugby team, there's only eight top rugby teams in the world, eight countries that are top. Ireland haven't got past the last eight ever in the World Cup and that's the number competition. Yet, we sort of glorify failure, they're moral victories and we blame the referee.

I saw the same with Leinster last week. I didn't see the criticism because 'twas all ex-players, you don't see the criticism of Leinster, which is well-deserved because they're highly-paid to do their job and they failed yet again.

I feel it's so wrong to compare them with Mayo. These Leinster players, they're the darlings of the media, they're the darlings of corporate Ireland. Life goes on, they get paid, they get increased contracts, they get more sponsorship. Mayo lads were back at work on the Monday morning and they're doing it for the love of the county, for the green and red.

To compare them with Leinster Rugby is wrong.

No doubt plenty in Mayo will have taken umbridge with the comparisons to Leinster in recent days and will be in fierce agreement with Pat Spillane.

It's hard to argue with Spillane's assessment of Leinster's latest European disappointment. Having added one of the world's best players in Jordie Barrett, as well as a World Cup-winning lock in RG Snyman, Leo Cullen's side suffered possibly their most chastening Champions Cup upset yet.

Mayo also suffered disappointment this weekend with their narrow defeat to Galway in the Connacht football final. However, the expectations on the Westerners is significantly different to those on Leinster.

Even if Mayo have come up short time and time again, they have earned much respect over the past decade or so for how they took the battle to Jim Gavin's perennial Dublin side. The golden generation that carried Mayo during those years has begun to step away in recent years, with more measured hopes as to how far they can go in the All-Ireland.

By contrast, Leinster built on back-to-back-to-back Champions Cup final appearances by signing two world class players and regressing.

As harsh as his take-down may seem, there may be some wisdom to Pat Spillane's remarks.