'It’s not like we’re a million miles away': Leo Cullen on the growing gap

Two days on from Leinster’s defeat, Leo Cullen’s assessment of Bordeaux following the Champions Cup final reads less like frustration and more like blunt admiration for a side operating at a level his own team couldn’t quite match.

There is a growing school of thought – not least given the nature of Saturday’s final – that French sides are pulling away at the top end of this European competition. Six titles in a row have hardened that view, and for Leinster, beaten again by Top 14 opposition, it’s no longer a throwaway narrative but a recurring theme that’s hard to ignore.

However, Cullen doesn’t think Leinster are that far off the pace, despite a painful 41-19 scoreline.

“They’re just that split-second quicker than we were, and very, very clinical,” he said. “They’ve been doing that to a lot of teams over the course of the last couple of seasons.

“They’re just that little bit better than us today,” he said. “But it’s not like we’re a million miles away.

“I know there’s a decent gap in the scoreline today, but that will be reflected upon… the big thing is how clinical Bordeaux were. You’ve got to say a massive well done to Bordeaux, because they have been insanely clinical in everything that they did,” he said.

“Scoring five tries in the first half… we’ve lots of possession during the day, lots of territory during the day, but we’re just nowhere near clinical with what we had.”

“They made us pay. They made us really pay.”

The detail he kept circling back to was what happens in the loose, moments that decide finals.

“Broken balls, scraps, are such a big part of the game,” he said. “I think they were just a good second quicker, unfortunately.”

Cullen was quick to give Bordeaux their flowers, acknowledging that Leinster weren’t the first side UBB have put to the sword in this fashion.

“They’ve been doing that to a lot of teams over the last couple of seasons. They were favourites for a reason, weren’t they?”

And more broadly, Cullen pointed to the environment shaping that sharpness.

“The speed of the way they do things is very impressive,” he said. “It’s a competition we watch a lot. I personally watch it a lot. There’s great intrigue. They’re playing big battles every week, full stadiums.”

“You see the way Bordeaux play as well.  It’s things done at speed.”

For Leinster, there was no mystery in the gap – only the need to close it.

“That’s the bit for us to reflect on and try to get better.”