'It shouldn't be a drudge' - Cullen urges Leinster supporters to turn out for semi-final

The 42

5 days ago

RELIEF SEEMED TO be the overriding emotion for Leo Cullen after he watched his Leinster team overcome Scarlets 33-21 in their URC quarter-final today.
It was far from a convincing performance at the Aviva Stadium, with the province looking nervy as their attack struggled for cohesion and their defence was breached three times by a spirited Scarlets side.
After starting strong, moving into a 12-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes, Leinster's play became increasingly scrappy. They led 15-14 at half-time before a somewhat more comfortable second 40 saw them pull clear to win by 12 points.
Cullen was clearly pleased to come out on the right side of the result but could not hide his frustrations around elements of the occasion.
While he made a point of thanking the Leinster support for turning out to get behind the team, a low attendance of less than 13,000 seemed to be something of a sore point, as he called for supporters to come out in numbers for next Saturday's semi-final meeting with Glasgow Warriors.
'Overall we are pleased to get through, we will just build a plan now for next week and recover well. We're into June rugby, the season goes on,' Cullen said.
The big thing for us is support and genuine excitement. It shouldn't be a drudge, it should be like 'This is amazing, we are in a semi-final, we are getting ready, we are playing the current reigning champions.'
'We know it's going to be hard. Last year they won a home quarter-final and came away to Munster to win an away semi-final before they went to South Africa to win an away final. If you're putting yourself in Glasgow's shoes, what are they like? They're relishing the opportunity to come here, but we need to be relishing the opportunity of playing in front of our home fans. This time last year we were scrambling around trying to book flights to South Africa.
'Like it's great to be in a semifinal again, but we take nothing for granted,' he continued, referencing his side's Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints.
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'Again, going back to the semi-final we've already lost, like, people were looking ahead. Everyone's looking ahead. Everyone is, supporters, staff were trying to look too far ahead. So it was a real harsh lesson for us, but (it's about) making sure we learn from that. So be excited now.'
Sam Prendergast had a mixed game. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Cullen also stressed the need to support young players like Sam Prendergast, who has been under huge scrutiny all season as he stepped up to be Leinster and Ireland's first-choice out-half.
Prendergast had a mixed game against Scarlets – delivering a sharp pass in the lead-up to James Lowe's opening try and one superb chip kick assist for Jamie Osborne, but adding errors both in possession and defence. His spilled pass as Leinster pushed for their third try at the end of the first half saw the Scarlets go end-to-end to score, leaving it a one-point game at the interval.
Cullen urged supporters to continue to back the young out-half, before turning his attention back to getting a big crowd in for the Glasgow game.
Sam is a young player and listen, he had some unbelievable moments in the game today. It's not to hype somebody up to the point where we're unrealistic in our expectations. So you have a young player, just gone 22 recently, and we need to support these guys.
'The guys come through the system in Leinster, and there's patience and being realistic about what young men can do. And for us it's just, we want to try and nurture talents, and most of the guys come through the system here, a few guys add as well, like Jordie [Barrett], a big influence, having the likes of RG [Snyman] coming off the bench. Rabah [Slimani], the experience he has as well.
'But for the most part it's guys that come through, Academy players that have progressed through the senior team and again, hopefully we have support to come out again in the semi-final.
'And I know we ask a lot of supporters over the course of the season, but let's make it a special occasion, a semi-final, let's be better than we were in the last semi-final. That's our job. Coaches, making sure we have a good plan there this week, but be genuinely excited by the challenge of it.
'We're up against the URC champions who came to Ireland last year to win their semi-final. Obviously we were in Pretoria watching it after we lost our game. So, yeah, dust ourselves off now and let's go again.'