LEINSTER BOSS LEO Cullen admitted he was relieved to see his side come out on top of a potentially tricky URC quarter-final clash with the Sharks, as the province kept their double dream alive with a convincing win at Aviva Stadium.
One week on from their Champions Cup semi-final win against Toulouse, a Leinster side which showed nine changes fell behind against the South Africans but quickly recovered to cruise to a five-try, 30-point win and book their place in next weekend’s URC semi-finals, where they will play Munster.
“It was a tricky week,” Cullen said. “There’s such a big build-up to that Toulouse game for the group, then you get through it and have this sort of emotional piece and you’re trying to get through another week then, and with a team that have a two-week lead into the game essentially.
Credit to the players, I thought they were excellent this week with how they applied themselves. Some of the guys coming in to freshen things up, the opportunity that they had, they were generally excellent, I have to say.
“We’re pleased to get through. I don’t the score really reflected the game. Obviously the Sharks start well, they have a try chalked off at the end, miss a penalty and turn a couple of shots at goal down before half-time.
“We’re pleased to get through but it was a little bit of a scrappy affair. We always feared it was going to be a tricky week, so we’re pleased to be through it.”
The Sharks struck first with a try from Grant Williams, but Caelan Doris responded with Leinster’s opening score on 15 minutes – a try which also saw winger Makazole Mapimpi sent to the bin for a high challenge. While the Sharks were down to 14, Leinster added two more tries – showing a ruthless edge when playing with a man advantage for the second week running.
“Yeah, credit to the players, they’re seeing the space,” Cullen continued.
“At one stage (Thomas) Du Toit is getting treated in the backfield so they’re able to exploit some of the space that’s there. So that’s been good. Obviously 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 again, at the end it gets a bit of gloss because it goes 28-12 but gets chalked off and they lose another man to the bin, so we’re able to clear our lines and score. As I said, I don’t think the score was really reflective of the game, but we’ll take it and move on, and watch tonight’s game with great interest.”
The Leinster head coach also played down any fears around Tadhg Furlong, who was replaced at half-time. However there is some concern around the fitness of Cian Healy, who was forced off in the closing minutes after replacing Furlong at the break.
“He’s (Furlong) ok. It was nothing major. But Cian is the one, he had to come off at the end, not 100% sure with him but we’ll get him checked out. He’s probably more the worry, but hopefully not too bad.”
James Ryan, who wasn’t in the matchday squad, was wearing a protective boot pitchside before the game, but Cullen said his issue isn’t a concern.
“I was just told. He is wearing a protective boot. I think he’s just looking for attention. He’s fine, James. He had a minor issue with his foot but it’s nothing major.”
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