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The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Leo Cullen fires warning shot as Leinster aim to avoid another knockout trap against Scarlets
LEO CULLEN wants to avoid the traps and keep everything focused on Scarlets. 2 Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is looking forward and not as his side face Scarlets in Dublin on Saturday 2 Northampton Saints stunned Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final But Cullen bristles at any talk beyond this afternoon, because he knows where that can lead after suffering a He said: 'We have fallen into this trap before, people looking too far ahead, and it is actually doing our heads in. 'Because everyone is talking about the next thing and nobody wants to talk about the here and now. It has got to the point where it's undermining the teams we play against. 'We were talking about the semi-final and there was talk about Cardiff and EPCR and there was no talk about Northampton.' read more on rugby That shot at glory ended up a huge disappointment as 16-point favourites Leinster lost by three. Not that Cullen or anyone at Leinster disrespected Saints, but he acknowledged that when everyone outside the camp is talking of finals, it is hard to ignore. The head coach admitted: 'The problem is that some of the noise can seep into the building, that's just natural, and we've all fallen into that trap. 'So it was interesting watching . . . lots of Leinster jerseys in that crowd in Cardiff. 'Fair play to them, we're sorry we couldn't be there. And it still stings, it is going to sting for a long time.' Most read in Sport But Cullen does not want history repeating itself as Leinster look to lift silverware in the URC. He has named a full-strength side with 15 internationals. Even the absences Garry Ringrose (calf) and Tommy O'Brien (foot) do not weaken them. 'Jack Crowley he's coming for you' jokes Peter O'Mahony's wife Jess as son practices his rugby skills Today, they are 24-point favourites as the top-seeded team in the post-season faces the lowest. The showdown, however, is not proving a big draw with 12,000 tickets sold as of yesterday afternoon. Whether that is down to people being away for the bank holiday, or an expectancy that there will be an Aviva Stadium semi-final next week and final the week after that is unknown. But Cullen hopes there is a big walk-up today to boost the attendance for a game where their season is on the line. He added: 'We want to extend it out now, it's not the worse thing to do as a career, train in the good weather. 'And for the group as well, the group want to continue on. But Scarlets will be saying the same thing, they'll be hugely motivated. 'We need make sure that however good Scarlets are going to be, we will do everything in their power to be better than them.' LEINSTER: H Keenan, J O'Brien, J Osborne, J Barrett, J Lowe, S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, J Ryan, R Baird, J van der Flier, J Conan. Reps: D Sheehan, J Boyle, R Slimani, RG Snyman, M Deegan, S Penny, L McGrath, C Frawley.
The Irish Sun
05-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Leo Cullen slams ‘wild' €17m Leinster budget claims after Champions Cup heartbreak against Northampton
LEO CULLEN has described guesstimates of Leinster's budget as 'wild'. Advertisement 2 Leinster lost a thrilling Champions Cup semi-final to Northampton at Aviva Stadium on Saturday 2 Leinster boss Leo Cullen has slammed 'wild' €17m budget claims after another European exit Since beating Racing 92 in 2018, Leinster have been runners-up four times, as well as losing two semi-finals and one quarter-final. Previously, Irish sides have pleaded the poor mouth in relation to English and French clubs but the landscape has changed. The salary cap in the Premiership is €7.5m and is €10.7m in the Top 14. There is no such limit in the URC and the outlay by the provinces is never released but, clearly, with the overwhelming majority of centrally-contracted players, plus high-profile imports such as Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani, Leinster is in a position to compete. Advertisement read more on rugby But Cullen said: 'It is wild. That's miles off. Unfortunately, people can write whatever they want. 'As we know, the system here is a little more complex than in other countries but we don't have a published salary cap. I don't think it's a conversation for this moment in time. 'I've seen some of those figures and they're just not accurate. How do you correct people who write things that aren't true in the current media?' Advertisement Most read in Rugby Union Clearly, though, Leinster's expenditure is significant and Cullen bristled when asked if one Cullen said: 'We all want to be more successful but we need to understand how difficult these competitions are to win as well, that's a judgement isn't it? 'Dumbest game ever' - Former England star, 33, takes up violent new sport slammed by experts 'It's painful but all we can focus on is doing everything we possibly can to be successful in what's next. 'I can't, unfortunately, comment on how you get judged on over a long period of time. Advertisement "If you wind the clock a bit further back, if you asked us what in 2009, where are we sitting now, 2025, in 16 years' time you'll have, what, four Champions Cups? In the previous 14 years we had doughnut. 'It depends again how far you go back with some of those questions. 'If you ask every team in the competition they would have loved to have won more. 'The pain that we're in at the moment. It's a horrible feeling for everyone in there, I can assure you. Advertisement 'But what do we do? Dust ourselves off and go again. We prepare for the next couple of weeks. We've got two URC games. 'You have to give Northampton credit. They processed the disappointment of losing the semi-final last year and got better. They won the Premiership and they're on the way to a final this year so we need to have the same mindset now.' In reality, the McCarthy said: 'There was no point in the last 10 minutes that I thought we weren't going to win. Advertisement "We were getting good opportunities, it felt like it was going to come. Even that last tap penalty, we'd scored two tap penalties. 'The lads are so hungry in the dressing room. It's been a few years we've been trying to win it. "It probably felt like it was going to be our year again, we feel like that every year but it's such a driven bunch of guys. 'They'll be bouncing in on Monday, trying to get better, trying to put in good performances in the URC. Advertisement 'I think it's hugely important. To win a bit of silverware would probably give a bit of confidence to the group, a bit of feel-good, because I think if you go again with no silverware there's a bit more pressure on, I don't know, maybe you doubt yourself a bit. 'We don't need outside pressure, there's a lot of pressure on ourselves to try to win a trophy so we'll be gunning now for the URC 100 percent.'
The 42
27-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'I was a bit disappointed with the way our guys didn't really pitch up'
LEO CULLEN REFUSED to panic after seeing his Leinster side beaten for only the second time this season in the United Rugby Championship, but was left scratching his head about the last time he had seen his team conceded 35 points. Success over Welsh regions has been routine for Leinster in recent years, even with a second string, but Scarlets came into their final home game of the season needing five points, with a team full of internationals and determined to gain a boost before heading to South Africa for their final two games. Their 35-22 win pushed them into the picture for a possible play-off place and ended a run of five straight defeats to Leinster. It was such a joyous and comprehensive win for the home side in the end their fans celebrated by singing the Welsh national anthem! With Glasgow Warriors also losing it didn't make much impact on Leinster's eight point lead at the top of the table. They finish with home games against Zebre and Glasgow and can still bank on a home quarter-final. Advertisement 'We lost control of the game pretty early on because of our ill discipline at the start. That gave them reasonable access,' explained Cullen. 'We knew the Scarlets would be up for the game because they've got so much to play for. It wasn't like things we hadn't discussed during the week and I was a bit disappointed with the way our guys didn't really pitch up. 'Credit to Scarlets, they exploited us in many different ways and scored some good tries. We were still in the game all the way through to the end and we were talking about maybe taking two points, but they defended well. 'There were a few issues with cohesion after so many changes in recent weeks. Blame the coach first – I'll take the blame.' Cullen rested his main side ahead of this weekend's Investec Champions Cup semi-final clash with Northampton Saints at the Aviva Stadium and will be expecting a different type of performance on that occasion. This defeat may add a bit more focus to training in the build up. 'We felt there is more in this group, but we didn't quite see that. We will dust ourselves off and get ourselves ready for the different challenges coming up over the next few weeks,' added Cullen. 'It's not a disaster, but you come back to the performance part. How did we put out a performance like that and conceded 35 points? 'If you are a little bit off and you are playing against highly motivated teams at the end of a season you can ship 35 points, although I can't remember the last time that happened. 'It is a good reminder for us. We've had some good wins in the last few weeks – after the narrow loss to the Bulls we had the win over the Sharks in South Africa that led into two Champions Cup weeks – and that gave everyone a lift. 'The momentum carried on into the win over Ulster last week, but we hit a bit of a rock today. We will try to get better for next week.'
