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The one caveat despite Leo Cullen's relief at Leinster getting off mark
By Ian Cameron at Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Leinster finally got their United Rugby Championship season up and running with a 31-5 win over the Sharks at the Aviva Stadium, though head coach Leo Cullen was quick to remind everyone that the champions remain in the red on points difference.
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After conceding ten tries in opening defeats to the Stormers and Bulls, Leinster rediscovered their defensive edge in Dublin as they limited the South Africans to a single interception score.
“It was going to be a tough start for us,” said Cullen. “When you look at the season, the schedule right from the off, we’re away in South Africa, you have a lot of moving parts in terms of guys returning. This week was going to be a short week and you’re up against a team that’s been in Europe for the last couple of weeks.
“The defence overall was impressive, particularly off the back of the last couple of weeks where we got cut up a bit cheaply at different parts of our game. You concede four tries one week and six the following week, so ten tries. The ledger is looking a little bit better. We’re still on negative points difference for the first three games. As I said, we have plenty to work on.”
Leinster crossed five times through Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien, Josh van der Flier, Max Deegan and Gus McCarthy, with Harry Byrne adding three conversions in a display that mixed flashes of fluidity with moments of rust.
“It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but there’s lots of good parts to it, lots of good intent,” Cullen said. “We scored some good tries and left a few out there, it’s probably fair to say. It was a short week in terms of prep-wise and trying to build the team together. It’s a step in the right direction and all those guys will hopefully be better for the experience today.”
The return of several British and Irish Lions, including Tadhg Furlong, James Lowe, Ronan Kelleher, Van der Flier and Osborne added substance to Leinster’s effort, but Cullen warned that cohesion will take time.
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“They’ve all come through, touch wood, in one piece,” he said. “We’re through now and hopefully the wider group will be better for the experience, but we still have a long way to go.”
Attention now turns to next weekend’s interpro clash with Munster at Croke Park – a game Cullen says always carries extra meaning.
“Munster in Croke Park will be a great occasion,” he said. “It’s one of those fixtures that’s so special in the sporting calendar in general, not just the rugby calendar. Let’s hope we’ll be well supported from both teams and we get another magic day out there.
“It’ll be a great challenge because those guys have probably been a bit more cohesive than us at this moment in time. We’ll need to make sure that we work hard this week and put a good plan together to play well at the weekend.”
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