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'It’s amazing to hear there’s already 70k tickets sold'

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen before the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Dragons at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

There’s now clear distance between Leinster and the rest of the league as they look ahead to a “special” derby day next weekend.

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They recorded their third successive bonus point victory by beating Benetton 35-5 in Treviso to move four points clear at the top of the table.

It’s a result which will put them in good spirits going into next Saturday’s huge all-Irish clash with Munster Rugby at a packed Croke Park.

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    Leo Cullen’s team had the four-try bonus in the bag inside 26 minutes out in Italy and finished with five tries in all.

    “We are very pleased to get that outcome,” said head coach Cullen.

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    “We really imposed ourselves well on the game early on and made good decisions.

    “There was a really good mix over the course of the first half hour and we came away with four good tries which was a great start.

    “The last thing you want to do away from home with a heavy pitch and a partisan crowd is to get into a wrestle.

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    “We always had that advantage in terms of the scoreboard. So overall, very pleased.”

    Now thoughts turn to the Dublin meeting with Munster which is set to draw a near full house at the 82,000 capacity Croke Park.

    “There’s this anticipation always about this fixture and you’ve got the fact that it’s in Croke Park, which is an amazing venue,” said Cullen.

    “It’s amazing to hear there’s already 70,000 tickets sold, so hopefully it will be close to being sold out and it will be a special day.”

    Munster warmed up for the all-Irish showdown by bouncing back from their shock defeat to Zebre Parma with a bonus point 23-0 win over the Ospreys in Cork.

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    They made a record-breaking start to the game, with wing Shay McCarthy touching down after just ten seconds to score the fastest try in league history. That narrowly surpassed the previous quickest by Edinburgh Rugby winger Dougie Fife against Connacht in March 2018.

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    Comments

    17 Comments
    R
    Red and White Dynamight 180 days ago

    URC is weak, take away Leinster and maybe Munster and its a ragtag lot of leftovers and wannabes.

    R
    RedWarrior 179 days ago

    Glasgow and Edinburgh have most of the Scottish squad, Benneton have most of the Italian squad and the 4 Welsh regions are the Welsh squad. The SA teams are growing in strenght and will be able to subsume more Boks. Attendances and standards are rising. 75,000 at a league match this weekend.

    J
    JW 180 days ago

    Yeah, they seem to have the same malaise as Super Rugby, only the good teams/big games attract crowds too. Two random games I watched this week had absolutely non on the far side, or any camera shot televised.

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    fl 3 hours ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    “A succession of recent ex-players going straight back into the game as coaches in their early 40’s would prob be enough to kill it stone-dead. Innovation would die a death.”

    Would it? I do think one of the major differences between rugby and most other sports - which we’ve been overlooking - is the degree to which players are expected to lead team meetings & analysis sessions and the like. Someone like Owen Farrell has basically been an assistant coach already for ten years - and he’s been so under a variety of different head coaches with different expectations and playing styles.


    “The most interesting ppl I have met in the game have all coached well into their sixties and they value the time and opportunity they have had to reflect and therefore innovate in the game. That’s based on their ability to compare and contrast between multiple eras.”

    I don’t doubt that that’s true. But having interesting insights doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best able to inspire a team, or the best at managing the backroom staff.


    “Wayne Smith winning the WWC in his mid sixties three years ago prob means nothing to you but it meant a lot to him. It took him back to the roots of is own coaching journey.”

    I don’t doubt that! But I don’t think coaches should be hired on the basis that it means a lot to them.


    “The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Wayne Bennett and Andy Reid all have a tale to tell. You should open your ears and listen to it!”

    I agree! Never have I ever suggested otherwise!

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