The Leo Cullen verdict on 'far from perfect' Leinster performance
Leo Cullen has called on double-chasing Leinster to deliver more polish next weekend after a scrappy affair limited their dominance to only a 35-5 URC quarter-final win over the Sharks in Dublin.
The Irish province last weekend won its way through to the May 20 Heineken Champions Cup final with an eye-catching effort versus Toulouse, but the display from a much-changed XV in the league clash against the visiting South Africans didn’t have their boss shouting from the Aviva Stadium rooftops.
Leinster were methodical in their delivery of a five-tries-to-one success in which three of their scores came when Sharks were down a man due to yellow cards. The first half-binning of Makazole Mapimpi for his illegal actions when failing to prevent Caelan Doris from scoring resulted in tries during that 10-minute spell from Michael Milne and Jordan Larmour.
The 35-5 victory was then rounded off in the closing minutes with a score from Jamison Gibson-Park just minutes after the Sharks had a consolation from Rohan Janse van Rensburg chalked off for yellow-carded foul play by James Venter at the breakdown. It meant that Leinster won the 15 versus 15 battle 14-5 compared to 21-0 when it was 15 versus 14.
“Credit to the players, they are seeing the space,” enthused Cullen, whose side also prospered last weekend when Toulouse were hampered by yellow cards. “That has been good. Caelan does well to score the try but it’s a double whammy for them when they lose Mapimpi to the bin as well.
“But even at the end it gets a bit of gloss, 28-12 and we get that (Sharks try) chalked off, so then we are able to clear our lines and we score. I don’t think the score was really reflective of the game but we will take it and move on and I believe we are back here next Saturday at 5.30.”
That will be for a semi-final versus Irish rivals Munster, who defeated 14-man Glasgow 14-5 in their quarter-final. Cullen admitted there was an injury concern over the availability of sub prop Cian Healy, who replaced Tadhg Furlong at tighthead at half-time against the Sharks, but he laughed off suggestions that the rested James Ryan was a doubt.
“I was told he was wearing a protective boot; I think he is just looking for a bit of attention,” chuckled Cullen about Ryan. “He’s fine. He has a minor issue with his foot but it is nothing major.”
As for his props? “He [Furlong] is okay. There was nothing major. We brought Cian on but he had to come off at the end. We aren’t 100 per cent exactly sure what is up with him, but we will get him checked out. He is probably the more immediate worry at the minute, but hopefully he is not too bad.”
It was a year ago when four-in-a-row champions Leinster were dethroned by the Bulls six days after they had put more than 70 points on Glasgow in a one-sided quarter-final. That mishap was on Cullen’s mind after seeing off the Sharks in a less convincing fashion.
“It was far from a perfect performance from us but it’s enough to get us through. If you remember the quarter-final last year we had a big win against Glasgow. There were lots of really positive things in that game but then we weren’t able to turn it around the following week against the Bulls.
“So we just need to learn from the past would be my sense at this moment in time, learn from the past how you back up a quarter-final into a semi-final. It’s great that we have another game to look forward to at the Aviva.
“It was a little bit of a scrappy affair I thought but it was going to be a tricky week we always felt (after Toulouse). We’re pleased to get through it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments