LEO CULLEN WAS in the mood to put a few things straight after Leinster reached the ninth Champions Cup final in their history.

Remarkably, Cullen will have been involved in all nine of those deciders.

He captained Leinster to their 2009, 2011, and 2012 titles, then coached them to their 2018 success. Cullen was also in charge for the final defeats in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

In three weeks, he hopes Leinster can put some of that recent pain behind them by beating reigning champions Bordeaux in Bilbao. It promises to be an intriguing finale at San Mamés Stadium.

But on Saturday evening, after his team had beaten Toulon 29-25 in their semi-final, Cullen was keen to get a few messages out into the world.

He took aim at the media, saying, “You guys love throwing the boot into us, don’t you?”

After the main press conference, Cullen was asked to expand on those comments and whether he feels that Leinster don’t get enough credit from the media.

He again brought up last year’s semi-final defeat by Northampton in Dublin.

“We don’t necessarily want the credit, it’s just balanced about what happens in the game,” said Cullen.

“Yeah, some strange things happened in that Northampton game and nobody wanted to report on them, did they?

“Did you report on the penalty try not awarded at the end of the game? Did you report on [Henry] Pollock, should have been a penalty under the posts?

“Bad news sells.”

Leo Cullen and Caelan Doris. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

When the discussion turned to the final in Bilbao and how Leinster have suffered in their last three Champions Cup finals, Cullen couldn’t resist a sarcastic joke.

“It won’t be easy, will it?” he said.

“We’ll have no chance anyway. We’ve been bloody useless this year.”

That was another jab at those who have criticised Leinster’s form so far in this campaign. They have lost six games in the URC regular season so far, which is unusual for them.

But Cullen wanted to outline how difficult it has been for him and his team with the Lions and Ireland contingents in their squad being so closely managed by the IRFU.

“It’s one of those seasons where there are a lot of challenges,” said Cullen. “The Lions lads come back late, as we know. We’ve probably had more than our fair share of injuries, and Jerry Cahir always puts a smile on my face.

“I was asking him what he was doing this time last year and he said he was getting ready to launch the Google Pixel for Vodafone because that’s who he was working for at the time. There have been lots of those moments this season. It just brings a lot of joy.

“Listen, we’re struggling our way through on lots of fronts, there’s lots of juggling. It is a challenge for lads, the juggling.

“Even if you look at the 16 URC games we’ve played so far, how many of them have the Irish lads actually played? So it’s bloody hard work for us to actually stay in the top eight.

“People think I’m talking nonsense here, but it’s a challenge because there’s so many games where you’re missing your so-called best players.

“That’s where we will need the squad over the last while and it’s difficult because I have had lots of difficult conversations with lots of players which is good for Leinster because you need lots of guys literally beating the door down to play.

“And we’ll see in the next couple of weeks because there is still so much to go in the season.”

Leinster fans on Saturday in Dublin. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO

Winning the Champions Cup is the clear priority for Leinster but they want to retain their URC title too.

They face the Lions of South Africa and the Ospreys at home over the next two weekends ahead of the Champions Cup final, which presents an opportunity to jump up the URC table from their current fourth place.

But Cullen confirmed that he will have to continue to manage the minutes of key Ireland and Leinster players such as captain Caelan Doris.

“Yes is the answer,” said Cullen. “You are always trying to manage. You can’t play every week but there is always a freshness piece anyway because of these high-end games.

“Every team has got their challenges. It’s onto the next one, which is the Lions, and there will clearly be changes for that because it is freshness, it is giving guys who are fully motivated and invested, and there are still places up for grabs for the final as well because lots of things can happen, as we know.”

There are injury issues for Cullen to manage, but he will have some interesting selection calls to make for the clash with Bordeaux.

The Leinster head coach was open enough to admit that Leinster’s tension in high-stakes games like Saturday’s semi-final against Toulon is self-evident. 

He hopes his team can play without inhibitions in Bilbao.

“You can see that there’s a natural bit of… I don’t know, is it tension or what is it? There’s definitely something in the performance there that we’re not quite free. They’re all humans.

“They’re all trying to learn as they go along because they want something so badly. That’s the thing about the tournament, you’ve heard some players talk about an obsession.

“It’s a magic tournament, isn’t it? That’s why it’s so amazing. Teams put everything into it. You’re down to the last four teams but, listen, think of some of the teams that are not in the last four. There’s some unbelievable teams not there.”

23 May is sure to be another stressful day for Cullen, but he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else than Bilbao.

“That’s what it’s about, isn’t it? What else would you be doing?” said Cullen.

“It’s a great way to feel alive. My poor son, he had to leave at half time [of the Toulon game].

“He said, ‘Dad, we’ve no chance, we’ve 13 men now.’ He had to leave and go home. He couldn’t take it.”