LEO CULLEN’S LEGACY as one of the greatest Leinster men of all time is already secure, regardless of what happens in his final season as the province’s head coach.
Leinster have won 15 top-end trophies in the professional era. Cullen has been part of every single one of those successes, either as a player or coach.
They have been agonisingly close to a few more titles in the Champions Cup in recent years, with Cullen repeatedly guiding the province to European rugby’s top table.
The most recent loss in the Champions Cup final against Bordeaux in Bilbao was the most emphatic one, but Leinster’s consistency has been impressive.
In fairness, many Leinster fans would swap a fifth Champions Cup star for just being in the dance every season, but very few clubs can match Leinster’s sustained winning rate from year to year.
It has been important for Leinster to renew their status as the best team in the URC over the last two seasons. They hadn’t won the competition in its current guise since it changed in 2021.
That was largely because of their obsessive focus on the Champions Cup, but Leinster have now reasserted their dominance in the league by becoming the first back-to-back champions, hammering the Bulls in the final two seasons in a row.
Cullen played a central role in the team that made Leinster a powerhouse in club rugby, captaining them to their first three Heineken Cups, and then became a key figure in Leinster re-establishing themselves as top dogs after a dip post-Joe Schmidt.
It was a job he had long aspired to, yet even Cullen himself couldn’t have imagined it would be his just a year after retiring from playing. In the wake of Matt O’Connor’s exit, Leinster were surprised to find themselves struggling to secure his successor.
Cullen, who had done just one season as forwards coach, was convinced to step into the void. There were certainly teething issues at the start, but Leinster found their rhythm after Cullen brought Stuart Lancaster in to lead the actual rugby coaching.
That was one example of how Cullen has always been passionate about the greater health of Leinster and his squad.
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And that’s one of the big reasons why the IRFU has been so content with the job Cullen has been doing in charge of Leinster. The union directly contract the provincial head coaches.
There’s no doubt that Leinster benefit handsomely from the high-quality rugby programmes at schools in Dublin and further afield. They have been getting promising players into their academy in a steady stream over recent years.
But talented players don’t become internationals by default. They need to be guided towards the top, and Cullen has done a good job of this at Leinster.
Cullen with Jacques Nienaber. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
He’d have loved another few Champions Cup trophies along the way, of course, but Cullen’s legacy is already established.
As he highlighted, Cullen will have been involved with Leinster for 32 years by the time next summer rolls around. It will have been 12 years as head coach. For him to step away at the end of next season has a natural feel to it.
Nothing can go on forever. In sport, there are very few coaches or managers who have this kind of longevity with one club. At some stage, it runs its course. And Cullen and Leinster feel like that time is now close.
It’s soon going to be time for someone else to take Leinster in a fresh direction. This early announcement of Cullen stepping away gives Leinster lots of time to figure out who should succeed him in 2027.
Before that, Cullen has one last season in charge. As he said several weeks ago when defending his position as the right man to lead Leinster in the 2026/26 campaign, the planning has been underway for some time.
Winning the URC leaves Leinster well-positioned to have another crack at the Champions Cup, given that top seeding should give them a more favourable pool draw. Leinster earning home knock-out games season after season has almost become boring in that it happens like clockwork. While it hasn’t led to a trophy since 2018, it is clearly the safest route to the final.
Bordeaux are now back-to-back champions, while Toulouse will be determined to get back on top in the Champions Cup. Montpellier have the look of a team who will want to push into contention as soon as possible.
Northampton and Bath will likely continue to lead the charge for English rugby, but there’s no doubt that Leinster should believe they remain among the leading contenders to win the Champions Cup.
This season’s final certainly got away from them, but their squad remains packed with quality, even when acknowledging the outgoings this summer and the additional challenge of an increase to 40% in Leinster’s contribution towards their nationally-contracted players’ salaries.
Cullen and senior coach Jacques Nienaber, who is expected to re-join the Springboks in the summer of 2027, will feel that having the likes of RG Snyman and Ryan Baird back from injury next season will be akin to having new signings.
They will be excited about the prospect of having Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle fully fit, giving them an enviable loosehead depth chart. That’s on top of all the talent that carried Leinster to URC success and a Champions Cup final this season.
And yet, Cullen was honest in stating that Leinster would review everything about their approach to the Champions Cup as they bid to go one better next season. The 2027 final in Lyon is already firmly in their sights.
Leinster are the standard-bearers for the URC. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
As for the URC, Leinster’s job now is to keep on winning it. They have long been the standard-bearers for the competition, even when not actually lifting the trophy.
The last Pro12/Pro14/URC club aside from Leinster to reach a Champions Cup final? That was Ulster way back in 2012.
Now that they have claimed the last two URC titles, Leinster will aim not to relinquish the trophy for a long time. Cullen will be targeting a much faster start to next season after the relative travails last autumn.
This season, they did well to recover from three losses in their opening four games to finish second in the final table. That mattered all the more when Glasgow lost at home to the Bulls in the semi-finals, giving Leinster home advantage in the decider.
The journeys towards another possible URC final and another potential Champions Cup decider begin in September and October, respectively, but you can bet that Cullen is already deep into the process of getting ready for them.
More than anything, Cullen will be determined to leave Leinster in a good place in 2027.
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Cullen's Leinster legacy is secure with a big final season ahead
LEO CULLEN’S LEGACY as one of the greatest Leinster men of all time is already secure, regardless of what happens in his final season as the province’s head coach.
Leinster have won 15 top-end trophies in the professional era. Cullen has been part of every single one of those successes, either as a player or coach.
They have been agonisingly close to a few more titles in the Champions Cup in recent years, with Cullen repeatedly guiding the province to European rugby’s top table.
The most recent loss in the Champions Cup final against Bordeaux in Bilbao was the most emphatic one, but Leinster’s consistency has been impressive.
In fairness, many Leinster fans would swap a fifth Champions Cup star for just being in the dance every season, but very few clubs can match Leinster’s sustained winning rate from year to year.
It has been important for Leinster to renew their status as the best team in the URC over the last two seasons. They hadn’t won the competition in its current guise since it changed in 2021.
That was largely because of their obsessive focus on the Champions Cup, but Leinster have now reasserted their dominance in the league by becoming the first back-to-back champions, hammering the Bulls in the final two seasons in a row.
Cullen played a central role in the team that made Leinster a powerhouse in club rugby, captaining them to their first three Heineken Cups, and then became a key figure in Leinster re-establishing themselves as top dogs after a dip post-Joe Schmidt.
It was a job he had long aspired to, yet even Cullen himself couldn’t have imagined it would be his just a year after retiring from playing. In the wake of Matt O’Connor’s exit, Leinster were surprised to find themselves struggling to secure his successor.
Cullen, who had done just one season as forwards coach, was convinced to step into the void. There were certainly teething issues at the start, but Leinster found their rhythm after Cullen brought Stuart Lancaster in to lead the actual rugby coaching.
That was one example of how Cullen has always been passionate about the greater health of Leinster and his squad.
And that’s one of the big reasons why the IRFU has been so content with the job Cullen has been doing in charge of Leinster. The union directly contract the provincial head coaches.
There’s no doubt that Leinster benefit handsomely from the high-quality rugby programmes at schools in Dublin and further afield. They have been getting promising players into their academy in a steady stream over recent years.
But talented players don’t become internationals by default. They need to be guided towards the top, and Cullen has done a good job of this at Leinster.
He’d have loved another few Champions Cup trophies along the way, of course, but Cullen’s legacy is already established.
As he highlighted, Cullen will have been involved with Leinster for 32 years by the time next summer rolls around. It will have been 12 years as head coach. For him to step away at the end of next season has a natural feel to it.
Nothing can go on forever. In sport, there are very few coaches or managers who have this kind of longevity with one club. At some stage, it runs its course. And Cullen and Leinster feel like that time is now close.
It’s soon going to be time for someone else to take Leinster in a fresh direction. This early announcement of Cullen stepping away gives Leinster lots of time to figure out who should succeed him in 2027.
Before that, Cullen has one last season in charge. As he said several weeks ago when defending his position as the right man to lead Leinster in the 2026/26 campaign, the planning has been underway for some time.
Winning the URC leaves Leinster well-positioned to have another crack at the Champions Cup, given that top seeding should give them a more favourable pool draw. Leinster earning home knock-out games season after season has almost become boring in that it happens like clockwork. While it hasn’t led to a trophy since 2018, it is clearly the safest route to the final.
Bordeaux are now back-to-back champions, while Toulouse will be determined to get back on top in the Champions Cup. Montpellier have the look of a team who will want to push into contention as soon as possible.
Northampton and Bath will likely continue to lead the charge for English rugby, but there’s no doubt that Leinster should believe they remain among the leading contenders to win the Champions Cup.
This season’s final certainly got away from them, but their squad remains packed with quality, even when acknowledging the outgoings this summer and the additional challenge of an increase to 40% in Leinster’s contribution towards their nationally-contracted players’ salaries.
Cullen and senior coach Jacques Nienaber, who is expected to re-join the Springboks in the summer of 2027, will feel that having the likes of RG Snyman and Ryan Baird back from injury next season will be akin to having new signings.
They will be excited about the prospect of having Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle fully fit, giving them an enviable loosehead depth chart. That’s on top of all the talent that carried Leinster to URC success and a Champions Cup final this season.
And yet, Cullen was honest in stating that Leinster would review everything about their approach to the Champions Cup as they bid to go one better next season. The 2027 final in Lyon is already firmly in their sights.
As for the URC, Leinster’s job now is to keep on winning it. They have long been the standard-bearers for the competition, even when not actually lifting the trophy.
The last Pro12/Pro14/URC club aside from Leinster to reach a Champions Cup final? That was Ulster way back in 2012.
Now that they have claimed the last two URC titles, Leinster will aim not to relinquish the trophy for a long time. Cullen will be targeting a much faster start to next season after the relative travails last autumn.
This season, they did well to recover from three losses in their opening four games to finish second in the final table. That mattered all the more when Glasgow lost at home to the Bulls in the semi-finals, giving Leinster home advantage in the decider.
The journeys towards another possible URC final and another potential Champions Cup decider begin in September and October, respectively, but you can bet that Cullen is already deep into the process of getting ready for them.
More than anything, Cullen will be determined to leave Leinster in a good place in 2027.
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Contenders Head Coach Last Hurrah Leinster Leo Cullen