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Leo Cullen defends his position after Leinster's Champions Cup exit
By Ian Cameron at Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Head coach Leo Cullen has insisted he remains the right man to lead Leinster despite their latest Investec Champions Cup exit, a 37–34 loss semi-final loss to Northampton Saints that ended the province’s hopes of reaching a fourth successive final.
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Cullen cut a subdued figure in the aftermath of a pulsating contest in Dublin, where a first-half hat-trick from Tommy Freeman and tries from Henry Pollock and James Ramm fired the Saints into the Cardiff final on May 24.
Freeman’s hat-trick — two of which came in the closing stages of the first half — helped the Premiership leaders into a 27–15 interval lead after a breathless opening forty minutes. Pollock’s solo effort and Ramm’s second-half score were further highlights in a performance brimming with ambition and clinical execution.
Leinster, who had kept clean sheets against Harlequins and Glasgow in the previous knockout rounds, responded through tries from Josh van der Flier (2), Tommy O’Brien, Caelan Doris and James Lowe, while Sam Prendergast landed three conversions and a penalty. But Cullen’s side couldn’t capitalise late on as Saints, reduced to 13 men in the dying minutes due to yellow cards for Josh Kemeny and Alex Coles, held firm under immense pressure.
When asked whether he thought he was the right man to lead Leinster back to European glory, Cullen was adamant he was.
“Yeah, I think I am. Yeah. I believe that I am, yes,” said Cullen. “I think we’ve worked hard to try and improve the group year-on-year and I think the group is very strong right now. As I said, that’s not something that’s just created last week, it’s year-on-year – and I think we’ve a stronger group now.
“We’ve lost three finals over the last three years, yeah, but I believe we’ve a stronger group now than we’ve had and that’s the way I will continue to approach the day-to-day in terms of preparing the short term, medium term, long term. So, yes. And I’m very committed to that as well.”
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Northampton’s win sets up a final against either Toulouse or Bordeaux-Bègles, while Leinster are left to contemplate another near miss in Europe.
“In the dressing room it’s a pretty sombre place as you can imagine,” said Cullen. “You set off at the start of the season and you know the final is in Cardiff. Everything is building towards that. Everyone is imagining themselves, every team, I’m sure, is imagining themselves there in the final.
“There is so, so much work that goes into a team getting to a semi-final…when you lose it is pretty horrific and that is the feeling we are experiencing at the moment, because I think it was one of those games. You’d love to have another crack at it straight away. But unfortunately, you don’t get that opportunity and that’s sport.”
Bit simplistic to blame it on Jordie’s selection.
Four points more and it would have been the right move.
NH were just better on the day.
The word ‘arrogance’ has no meaning on this site anymore lol.
Let’s go for a different insult.
Let’s bring back ‘wimp’.
Leinster were wimps. There you go.
Leinster are (now) clearly the best side in Ireland …. and (on paper at least) they are together with Toulouse one of the two best club sides in the world (as a Saffer I would love the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks contesting that, but we are not quite there yet) … and yes, they have been cruising through the URC and the Champions Cup this season, looking at times unbeatable ….
but when it gets down to real business, they seem to underperform or “be out of luck” (which is not really “luck” but lacking winner mentality) - just like the Irish with their QF-curse
so I guess, the question arises, whether Leo Cullen is the right (head) coach radiating winner mentality
Leinster didn’t lose this game, Saints from minute 1, went out and won it.
Their fwd pack were immense and their backline, orchestrated by finn smith were sublime.
The arrogance that Brian o driscoll elluded to in a post match summing up, is clearly on display in some of the comments on here!!.
What are you on about? He is a Leinster man he is going to discuss their shortcomings. A Northhampton win wasn’t an inevitability. For NH to win they needed to play their best match and create a situation where Leinster made errors. Thats what happenned. The Leinster errors were not inevitable. NH succeeded in winning, but Leinster will feel they should have been able to pull the match out of the fire. Thats not arrogance FFS. Change the record.
So Doris kicks to touch instead of taking 3 to level at the death, get possession back and go again to win. No arrogance in Irish rugby, none whatsoever!
https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2025/0502/1510772-preview-leinster-primed-to-deal-with-saints-speedbump/
Absolutely no arrogance at all in Irish rugby…
From the same article:
One swallow doesn’t make a summer. You’re cherry picking for anything to try and prove whatever your latest hateful theory is about Irish players and people. Its disgusting. Blocked.
Coaching failings were not starting the best team. Not stress testing the defense properly when it was not being tested by other teams.
The attacks on Cullen as arrogant from some here are preposterous. Leinsters record of wins show they take every match very seriously. But for a team to win the double, whether that’s Leinster, Toulouse or whomever you need to plan a squad capable of doing that and you need to plan a season with winning trophies in mind. Every title competitor in elite professional rugby does this. Anyone who says otherwise is either clueless or the type of non-supporter who thinks rugby is about flinging dirt against the reputation of competitors. They should take their egos to another activity in my opinion. They should try and be more honest and humble.
Cullen is so arrogant
Cap counts: start+bench international(B&I lions)
Leinster squad 717(13)+309(3) = 1028(16)
Saints squad 76+7 = 83
Sam Prendergast is the main culprit for this loss in my opinion. On the field he saunters about like a headless chicken, is as slow as a week in the jail when he even attempts to run. In defence he is woeful and looks scared. Cannot and won't even attempt to tackle.Never in any sense of the imagination is he a top class standoff. A British and Irish Lions pick is pure nonsense . On tour he will be found wanting and would be targeted and therefore a liability.
It was a coaching failure. NH identified numerous holes in the Leinster defense if the rush defense can be lessenned. Leinster should have plugged these holes before the match. They new they were not tested in the earlier rounds, they knew holes might exist that were not yet exposed. Barrett is a huge aid to Prendergast. He should have started.
“You set off at the start of the season and you know the final is in Cardiff. Everything is building towards that. Everyone is imagining themselves, every team, I’m sure, is imagining themselves there in the final.”
No Leo - that is not how every teams thinks at the start of the season. Only the insufferably arrogant ones. Every coach I’ve played under or coached with has a firm “one game at a time” philosophy. Don’t imagine yourself winning anything. Play your role in the game in your head over and over again - that’s all.
Leinster had a one match at a time philosophy quite clearly as they have lost so few this year. Ofcourse Leinster plan to win the CC. Just as Toulouse do. Just as NZ and SA do for the world cup. The latter two say it openly. Do you really expect Leinster or any of those others not to plan their route to a final? Ofcourse Cullen will mention that the planning was there in that interview as he is defending his job.
There is a fad on rugby social media to try and find arrogance. People have been doing it with Ireland and Irish teams since Ireland beat NZ in the 2022 series. You won’t find it. Give it up. If you want to take about arrogance and you have a year to spare we can start discussing NZ and SA.
From the outside looking in, the governance of Irish rugby looks increasingly muddled with the convoluted politics of selection and string-pulling by the IRFU appearing to hinder and not help Leinster let alone the other three provinces.
Fans of each should feel rightly aggrieved.
What substantiation have you for that claim?
hello
Go taste test chainsaw blades, wart flaps.
hy
Cullen: Everyone is imagining themselves there in the final.
Typical Irish arrogance: imagine yourselves first in the semi-final, and try to win it.
Looking past Northampton, man you are cocky and need to step down and let someone takeover your position that will talk more humbly
Every challenging team from Leinster to Toulouse in the CC and from SA to NZ re World Cups plan to make a final and win. That’s what they are there for.
Cullen is being questioned about his job. Of course he is going to say his planning was adequate to carry out the double goals of URC and CC wins.
I am sick of non-rugby fans scrapping for any scrap to declare Irish people arrogant. Almost invariably, they come from NZ and SA the two most arrogance self absorbed rugby nations on the planet. Ireland or Leinster are not arrogant. Go find another lie.
Isn’t. that what they denied saying after the beat SA in the WC pool?
Yeah that was my immediate thought, they said the same thing about the RWC Final.
Not a Cullen thing, much harder for them to overcome than that.