LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen lamented another season of missed opportunities, as his side’s URC campaign ended in a whimper with defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
Cullen’s team have not progressed further than the semi-finals of the URC in the three seasons the championship has been played, and have now lost to the Bulls in two of these – the other being the shock one-point defeat in Dublin in 2022.
Added to the three consecutive Champions Cup losses, there are questions being asked about what it will take for Leinster to get over the line, and Cullen knows he will come under scrutiny for the continued failure to claim silverware.
But after the game, he said he believed that Leinster were very close to achieving the goals that eluded them.
“When you are fighting on two fronts, it takes its toll, definitely,” Cullen said after the game.
“From our point of view, we are very, very close to getting there. This squad won’t be the same again, like every team at this point of the season, we have some great servants of the club that are moving on.
“We have some other players that are coming through next year so we will do our best to get ourselves into this situation again and to be better. It is frustrating the way this has played out for us, particularly the way some of these challenges have been for us this season – after the World Cup and the length of the season.
“Some of our players have been going full-on since this time last year, but that is the challenge of these types of seasons. For now, we will go back and reflect and make a plan for next year and come back stronger.”
With many of the Leinster players playing their first game at altitude in Pretoria, some real worries of mental scars are there with Ireland’s first test against the World Cup champions, the Springboks at the same venue in three weeks’ time.
But Cullen believes that experiencing the partisan atmosphere first-hand will be positive for yhem ahead of facing the Boks.
“They will have a bit more time with Ireland to prepare than we did,” said Cullen.
“It is a great experience for them to experience this. It was an amazing atmosphere and the Bulls showed a lot of fight and physicality. We knew they would and they need to get credit for how they performed today.”
The Bulls will face Glasgow Warriors in the final at Loftus Versfeld with coach Jake White hoping his side can go one further than their loss in the inaugural final in 2022 against the DHL Stormers.
This is a high performance environment. His results don’t warrant another year.
@Donal Connolly: don’t worry Leo, if you don’t win with Barrett, Slimani and Snyman next season, we’ll sign Jordie’s brother Beaudon, DuPont and N’tamak for the season after
@Donal Connolly: I think it is absolutely disgusting that actual Leinster “supporters” are on this forum calling for someone to lose their job!! As Nigel Owens famously said – THIS IS NOT SOCCER.
@Donal Connolly: they had a head coach come in mid-season! It’s called a transistion and it was without a pre-season under the new coach (which is quite important according to people who actually play at this level). The fact you have so many “likes” is testament to why I rarely read the comments here anymore, there’s a lot of numptys here that don’t know what they’re talking about!
@Donal Connolly: we’ll also have a new attack coach next season so that might be an improvement too, things haven’t been as good since Contepomi left, I hope Goodman settles in well on the Ireland job though.
@Paul Ennis: That’s life Paul. In Soccer he’d be out after the first season. Many of us on here were calling for support for him and Anthony Foley, both struggled in their first year. Leinster brought in Lancaster, which was a brilliant manoeuvre. Now he’s had his time and again we’re in the same position as the last three years. “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got!”
Leo either needs to surrender team selection to one of the coaches or move on to pastures green. He’s a good coach but he seems to have run his course at Leinster.
@Con Cussed: You are absolutely 100% that it is life. And if anyone in any walk of life is let go, made redundant or sacked they usually only have themselves to blame. BUT… what they do not get, nor do they deserve, is to have unqualified halfwits calling for their heads from their comfortable couches in their sitting room. That’s what I find disgusting.
@Paul Ennis: People made redundant or let go, rarely, if ever, are they personally to blame, nor the quality of their work. You still have to learn about life if you think otherwise. It’s most often some director sitting far away who decides the company needs more profit than the year before or some investor is calling the shots for greater “efficiencies”.
This is definitely not the case here. Leo is 9 years in the job, he’s been the most successful manager but he’s only had limited success with the best team in the country and perhaps second best in Europe. If it’s not players, then who owns the responsibility?
@Con Cussed: It depends what measure you use to judge success or failure. Most European clubs would think that 3 consecutive finals is relatively successful – it’s a bit arrogant to think otherwise. In Leo’s 9 years he has always managed the evolution of the squad and coaching team to the next level… As someone who had the humility and self confidence to bring more talented coaches onto his team. Ultimately the buck stops with him, but the success or failure of an organisation requires the right culture and by in from everyone and therefore everyone is responsible for the failure, not just the guy at the top. And the point I was making is that not one of them deserve our shit slinging from the sideline.
Donnchadh was spot on in his post match analysis; everyone, including the media, are way too easy on Leo. Given the resources they have at their disposal, their funding, world class coaches (Lancaster, now Nienaber) and exceptional facilities, Leinster’s level of underperformance – for three years running – would not be accepted anywhere else. Thankfully rugby is not like soccer where managers are moved on very quickly if results don’t go to plan but it’s THREE YEARS he’s managing most of the Irish team and has no trophy to show for it. He’s smug in interviews, a smart ass on occasion and seems to be above it all. It’s not good enough.
@John Coffey: So now it’s coming to character assassination. The other thought is that we, as Leinster supporters, need to learn some humility. Toulouse, Northampton and Bulls have proven that we are not as good as we thought we are. Our squad depth is not what it used to be and we have to live with that.
@Paul Ennis: I think the players are just boloxed to be honest Paul. Surely the players are good enough and the depth is better than most. I’m worried about some of these lads being mentally scared though.
@James Murphy: Not sure if they are scarred, but there is definitely a mental aspect to winning trophies and these boys will have to learn how to get across the line. I can’t wait for next season to begin. It’s not that I enjoy the final or semi final defeats, but I do enjoy the roller coaster. I am looking forward to seeing how these lads in blue pick themselves back up. Ulster and Connacht will be stronger next season too and Leinster know they cannot take the URC for granted.
New blood is needed to get Leinster winning again. We’ve done well in terms of getting into knockouts but never getting over the line. A new conductor is needed for the orchestra.
@Con Cussed: we have one, he just didn’t get a full season with us, next year is the year, a full year including pre-season, new attack coach too.
Leinster are “all fur coat and no knickers”. It’s interesting that an Irish province needs a good overseas player to push to the highest standards eg Elsom, Fardy and Halstead (to name a few). Must be a mentality thing in Irish rugby because the national team can’t get over the line when the game is in a melting pot unless its a friendly.
There is massive difference between the media’s coverage of Irish rugby and New Zealand’s coverage of their teams after disappointment. Being nice and making excuses for disappointments in Irish rugby isn’t helping these teams, it’s actually harming them. There is nothing wrong with being blunt and saying you underperformed there and you let people down. These teams have been mollycoddled by the media for long enough.
This spoofer has what it takes for the top job – cullen for taoiseach 2025!
What’s needed is a very honest review of the season. I suspect, given that 3 major signings have been made, that this group will continue for another go.
These players make up the majority of the Irish team. They’ve peaked for the World Cup, the six nations and are then expected to go again for the end of the club season. Any group can only go to the well so many times. The French and South Africans have far more depth and the players split up into smaller groups at their respective clubs, whilst still maintaining a high standard in most cases. With the relatively limited resources (as a country) it’s probably correct to prioritise the national team and unfortunately this does mean that the provinces supplying the most players will drop a few points over the season as a result of this. In Leinster’s case they’ve missed out on the home semi.
With the excellent U20 sides over the last few years it’d be great to see how the provinces are going to bring this talent through and I really hope they succeed. It’s hard to get games at provincial level and I wonder if some of these players should consider playing abroad in those early years and come back as stars.
Never thought I’d say this about Cullen but ” he’s a spoofer Bill”
Well, that seems unanimous. But not a single alternative available candidate appears in any of these posts.
@Colin Rainier: Exactly… to be fair, it is an emotional reaction by most. But I still find it disgusting.
@Paul Ennis: Not really, I think a lot of fans have grown tired of Leinster not producing for multiple years, and seeing Leo make the same mistakes. Do you really expect Leinster fans to be able to come up with the right replacement? We’re not professional coaches, lol
The problem I would have with Cullen going, is do they replace him or is it just Neinebar fully in charge. I think we took a gamble and it backfired completely.
Maybe with a full preseason and a new attacking coach, things might change. Though I really don’t see how. This is how SA won 2 world cups, playing turgid physical rugby and kicking the leather off the ball. He is just a bad fit for Leinster and I guess that is on Leo.
@Stephen Nolan: unfortunately the way rugby is refereed these days – it is very difficult to win unless you play a turgid physical game, kicking the leather off the ball and piling in bodies at the breakdown (often not even releasing after the tackle). Both Munster and Leinster were undone yesterday by actually trying to play rugby against opponents who decided to play he SA way. Leinster’s URC season didn’t end yesterday – it was blown by sending an under strength team to Belfast for an essential win game and turning down kicks at goal repetitively.
@PatN: actually I thought Leinster played quite well but couldn’t get past the Bulls strong defence and in the end that was the difference. Didn’t really think a SA physical style of play was the reason they lost – it was as I’ve said Leinster couldn’t unlock the defence from a team that played for a full 80 minutes. Beaten by a better team on the day that’s about it!
@PatN: I’m not sure I would agree that Leinster tried to play rugby. They kicked the ball 37 times, mostly in effectively. Leinster were undone, as they have been several times this season, by amateurish ball handling skills. Their lack of accuracy has been a huge problem all season. It only really affected them in the tighter games though.
Sack…… Him….. Now.
Time to go Leo. That’s the only plan you should be making for next year!!
Strategy, Tactics and Leadership. All missing yesterday and, if truth be told, missing for most of the season, except the La Rochelle EPCR Quarter-final.
Leinsterainment is not sufficient to beat good teams who have planned and focussed their efforts to attack our weaknesses and use their strengths to score points.
Some fundamental amendments needed.
I have total faith in Leo. How long did Leinster go without winning a H cup? They had one of the best backlines in the world in the 00s but couldn’t do it until 2009. There are other very good rugby sides around besides Leinster…. they will get over the line
This is sport,your team loses, to all the Hipster Dad’s who never played rugby and have these long haired 8 yr olds flicking their hair ,I’m so gorgeous, you deserve this loss,Christ I hate these new supporters. Happy Fathers Day ,give the brat a slap
Very simple lads, get rid of the MAYO man-