NO ONE COULD ever accuse Leo Cullen of not caring.
His life has always revolved around Leinster. Nearly all of his life has been in Leinster.
Even when he went away to Leicester for two years, helping them to a Premiership title in 2007, it was to Leinster’s benefit. Cullen returned home with a new perspective and captained Leinster to their first-ever Heineken Cup in 2009.
Cullen was in a somewhat pensive mood late on Friday night when he made it into the post-match press conference at Croke Park. He was drenched in beer, having just celebrated in the changing room with his team after their 36-7 battering of the Bulls.
This was Leinster’s 10th trophy in the competition that began as the Celtic League and is now the URC. Cullen has been part of every single one of those. 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2014 as a player. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2025 and 2026 as head coach.
Leinster have won four Heineken/Champions Cups. Cullen has been part of all of those, too. 2009, 2011 and 2012 as the captain on the pitch. 2018 as the coach. He has led the province to losing finals in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026.
Leinster have one Challenge Cup title on their roll of honours. Cullen played in that 2013 final.
Leinster winning trophies and Leo Cullen are synonymous.
He slipped down memory lane on Friday as Leinster’s team bus was given a police escort from their training base in UCD to Croke Park for the final. Their route took them past Donnybrook Stadium, where Leinster used to play when Cullen debuted at the age of 19.
“Mike Ruddock was appointed Leinster’s first head coach, and he was showing us clips of Leicester against Brive, which was that year’s European Cup final [in 1997]. Brive beat Leicester,” said Cullen on Friday night.
“I just think back to those Donnybrook days, where it all began on that sandpit of a pitch, and it’s amazing. That’s what’s flashing through my mind.
Advertisement
Leo Cullen in 1997. James Meehan / INPHO
James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO
“I’m thinking, here we are in the middle of Croke Park playing against the Bulls in the middle of June. Who would have thought that would be possible? And here we are. It makes me proud to be part of the group. It’s incredible to be part of.”
This season has ended with Leinster becoming the first-ever back-to-back champions of what became the United Rugby Championship [URC] in 2021 with the introduction of the four leading South African franchises.
It is widely agreed that the league is now harder to win than ever, yet Leinster have won the last two finals against the Bulls in dominant fashion. Both games at Croke Park have essentially been over at half time.
And yet, this campaign was a challenging one for Leinster. After the heavy involvement of their players in the Lions and Ireland tours last summer, Cullen’s men made a sluggish start. They had to battle through many games this season. They have had injury setbacks along the way, most notably at loosehead prop.
Having lost previous Champions Cup finals on fine margins, they were well beaten by Bordeaux in Bilbao last month. It hurt them badly.
There was tension in the aftermath. Cullen’s perception is that there is an overly negative slant from some journalists and online supporters, and that the positive will towards Leinster isn’t highlighted enough.
He argued that case rather passionately and pointedly in the wake of the URC quarter-final win against the Lions, although he admitted on Friday night that he was a little cranky on that occasion.
“I had a grumpy press conference after the Lions game,” said Cullen. “That was an eight o’clock kick-off. The game finished at 10. I’d been at a 30-year school reunion the day before, where I maybe had one or two too many.
“So I might have been a bit grumpier that day, so there are always reasons for that, if someone says something. And I was very emotional towards the tail end of this season. There’s lots of different reasons for that. That’s just sometimes what happens. It comes out.
“I definitely think there’s a real love for the team. We are protective of the team if someone says something not nice about us. I was slagging Zebo off there because a lot of it is formed off the Munster trolls, would be my feeling.
“But that’s just life, we’ve just got to deal with it. It’s a very different landscape, isn’t it?
“People can fire out whatever is going through their mind at any moment in time these days. The landscape is different. Listen, we know that. But I shouldn’t be sensitive. I’m being critical of myself. Let’s be positive. It’s a great day.”
Leo Cullen and James Lowe celebrate. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
It certainly was a great day at Croke Park. A home crowd of nearly 40,000 generated an excellent atmosphere and audibly enjoyed how their team played.
And yet, Cullen and his players will carry a scar from this season’s Champions Cup final.
“Unfortunately, we had a really poor time in Bilbao,” was how Cullen put it.
He had previously said Leinster will review everything they do to ensure they are better prepared for their next assault on the Champions Cup in 2026/27. Success in the URC means they will be seeded as strongly as possible for the pool draw.
And so, as the celebrations die down, Cullen is onto the next job. Another big group of his players will be in Australia and New Zealand over the coming weeks to represent Ireland.
That will mean more challenges in pre-season, but this is the stuff Cullen takes pride in.
“We want to see that,” he said. “I would have given anything to have one more cap for Ireland.
“What do I want for our players? I want them to go on and feel that all the time. There are even bizarre things like Rabah [Slimani] going back to play for France. We take immense pride; we took him into Leinster, we gave him a job spec performing and mentoring the young guys. In terms of the dream signing, he was incredible for us.
“For the Irish guys, that’s what we want. We will be watching those guys and cheering them on in the three Tests. What do we learn from those games?
“Whoever’s not going on tour, the guys bring them back and do the work behind the scenes day in, day out.
“Getting a team to be able to perform at the tail end of the season, going through all the seven knock-out games, get the next guy through.
“There’s a great group of people here. They’re a joy to work with.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
3 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Cullen on how far Leinster have come, Munster trolls, and what's next
NO ONE COULD ever accuse Leo Cullen of not caring.
His life has always revolved around Leinster. Nearly all of his life has been in Leinster.
Even when he went away to Leicester for two years, helping them to a Premiership title in 2007, it was to Leinster’s benefit. Cullen returned home with a new perspective and captained Leinster to their first-ever Heineken Cup in 2009.
Cullen was in a somewhat pensive mood late on Friday night when he made it into the post-match press conference at Croke Park. He was drenched in beer, having just celebrated in the changing room with his team after their 36-7 battering of the Bulls.
This was Leinster’s 10th trophy in the competition that began as the Celtic League and is now the URC. Cullen has been part of every single one of those. 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2014 as a player. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2025 and 2026 as head coach.
Leinster have won four Heineken/Champions Cups. Cullen has been part of all of those, too. 2009, 2011 and 2012 as the captain on the pitch. 2018 as the coach. He has led the province to losing finals in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026.
Leinster have one Challenge Cup title on their roll of honours. Cullen played in that 2013 final.
Leinster winning trophies and Leo Cullen are synonymous.
He slipped down memory lane on Friday as Leinster’s team bus was given a police escort from their training base in UCD to Croke Park for the final. Their route took them past Donnybrook Stadium, where Leinster used to play when Cullen debuted at the age of 19.
“Mike Ruddock was appointed Leinster’s first head coach, and he was showing us clips of Leicester against Brive, which was that year’s European Cup final [in 1997]. Brive beat Leicester,” said Cullen on Friday night.
“I just think back to those Donnybrook days, where it all began on that sandpit of a pitch, and it’s amazing. That’s what’s flashing through my mind.
“I’m thinking, here we are in the middle of Croke Park playing against the Bulls in the middle of June. Who would have thought that would be possible? And here we are. It makes me proud to be part of the group. It’s incredible to be part of.”
This season has ended with Leinster becoming the first-ever back-to-back champions of what became the United Rugby Championship [URC] in 2021 with the introduction of the four leading South African franchises.
It is widely agreed that the league is now harder to win than ever, yet Leinster have won the last two finals against the Bulls in dominant fashion. Both games at Croke Park have essentially been over at half time.
And yet, this campaign was a challenging one for Leinster. After the heavy involvement of their players in the Lions and Ireland tours last summer, Cullen’s men made a sluggish start. They had to battle through many games this season. They have had injury setbacks along the way, most notably at loosehead prop.
Having lost previous Champions Cup finals on fine margins, they were well beaten by Bordeaux in Bilbao last month. It hurt them badly.
There was tension in the aftermath. Cullen’s perception is that there is an overly negative slant from some journalists and online supporters, and that the positive will towards Leinster isn’t highlighted enough.
He argued that case rather passionately and pointedly in the wake of the URC quarter-final win against the Lions, although he admitted on Friday night that he was a little cranky on that occasion.
“I had a grumpy press conference after the Lions game,” said Cullen. “That was an eight o’clock kick-off. The game finished at 10. I’d been at a 30-year school reunion the day before, where I maybe had one or two too many.
“So I might have been a bit grumpier that day, so there are always reasons for that, if someone says something. And I was very emotional towards the tail end of this season. There’s lots of different reasons for that. That’s just sometimes what happens. It comes out.
“I definitely think there’s a real love for the team. We are protective of the team if someone says something not nice about us. I was slagging Zebo off there because a lot of it is formed off the Munster trolls, would be my feeling.
“But that’s just life, we’ve just got to deal with it. It’s a very different landscape, isn’t it?
“People can fire out whatever is going through their mind at any moment in time these days. The landscape is different. Listen, we know that. But I shouldn’t be sensitive. I’m being critical of myself. Let’s be positive. It’s a great day.”
It certainly was a great day at Croke Park. A home crowd of nearly 40,000 generated an excellent atmosphere and audibly enjoyed how their team played.
And yet, Cullen and his players will carry a scar from this season’s Champions Cup final.
“Unfortunately, we had a really poor time in Bilbao,” was how Cullen put it.
He had previously said Leinster will review everything they do to ensure they are better prepared for their next assault on the Champions Cup in 2026/27. Success in the URC means they will be seeded as strongly as possible for the pool draw.
And so, as the celebrations die down, Cullen is onto the next job. Another big group of his players will be in Australia and New Zealand over the coming weeks to represent Ireland.
That will mean more challenges in pre-season, but this is the stuff Cullen takes pride in.
“We want to see that,” he said. “I would have given anything to have one more cap for Ireland.
“What do I want for our players? I want them to go on and feel that all the time. There are even bizarre things like Rabah [Slimani] going back to play for France. We take immense pride; we took him into Leinster, we gave him a job spec performing and mentoring the young guys. In terms of the dream signing, he was incredible for us.
“For the Irish guys, that’s what we want. We will be watching those guys and cheering them on in the three Tests. What do we learn from those games?
“Whoever’s not going on tour, the guys bring them back and do the work behind the scenes day in, day out.
“Getting a team to be able to perform at the tail end of the season, going through all the seven knock-out games, get the next guy through.
“There’s a great group of people here. They’re a joy to work with.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Head Coach Leinster Leo Cullen The Boss Title URC