LEINSTER BOSS LEO Cullen has passionately stressed that he has not felt under pressure due to the criticism of him and his team in the wake of the Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux two weekends ago.

Cullen’s side got back into action last Saturday night with a nine-try hammering of the Lions in the URC quarter-finals, setting up a semi-final against the Stormers at the Aviva Stadium this coming Saturday.

That means Leinster are on track to defend their URC title, but the defeat by Bordeaux was a fifth consecutive Champions Cup final loss for Leinster.

The dominant nature of Bordeaux’s win has led to plenty of criticism of Cullen and Leinster from the media and supporters since the final in Bilbao two weekends ago.

But speaking after Leinster’s 59-10 victory against the Lions, Cullen was animated in rejecting the notion that he might have felt under pressure due to external critiques after the Champions Cup final.

“That’s the business that we’re in, isn’t it?” said Cullen. “We want to be in this situation where we’re playing in finals.

“When you get to a final, it’s boom or bust. So if your boom is a celebration, party, the bust is, we know what people are like.

“They love to pile on top of the team and kick them when they’re down, which is what I tried to get across after the semi-final [of the Champions Cup against Toulon].

“But that will happen again. So, if we lose the semi-final next week, it’s boom or bust again, isn’t it? So that’s the business that we’re in, isn’t it?

“So, do I find the pressure of that? But that’s what I do for a living. So, I love it.

“Do I feel under pressure? No, I absolutely love it.”

The Leinster boss said nothing can match the pressure that Leinster put on themselves.

“It’s not the backlash I feel under pressure for,” said Cullen. “It’s that I want the team to win myself.

“As in, I want to win for the team.

“Everyone involved in the team wants to win. Is that clear? We hurt so much. So, backlash, it’s just an added layer, isn’t it?

“We want to win so badly ourselves. The most disappointed people are ourselves, with ourselves, because we want to be successful for the club because we love the club.

“There’s so many people who love Leinster. Does that make sense? So do you understand the actual pressure that we put on ourselves to put ourselves in these situations, year-on-year?”

Leo Cullen at Leinster training. Grace Halton / INPHO Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO

Cullen also took the chance to stress that he has no time for the extensive online criticism that Leinster attract.

“I’m not on social media, so you’ll have to explain this one to me,” said Cullen.

“I’m not a fan of social media because I think it’s very negative and toxic, would be my experience. I wouldn’t try to expose myself to that too much.

“Why would I have any interest in a troll? Because that’s what they do. That’s what trolls want.

“They want to agitate. That’s the way I understand social media anyway. I could be wrong.

“Hence, I don’t go on it because I’m just like, what am I going to actually gain from it? I’m not trying to market myself for my individual brand and get my followers up. That’s just a choice that I would make.”

And the Leinster head coach also asked the media to focus on some of the positive reactions that he and his team have encountered since Bilbao, as well as after other Champions Cup final losses.

Cullen clearly feels that the Irish rugby media is too focused on the negatives.

“On the flip side, the amount of messages of support that I personally and the team have had that people want to back us as well,” said Cullen. “There’s always a balance.

“Why don’t you report about that? All the positive messages from them, rather than all the negative ones. Why does it always have to be negative pressure?

“I see the positive pressure because I see so many people supporting the team and me personally that were in Bilbao for the weekend.

“I feel a positive pressure to help prepare the team as well as I possibly can. All the players feel that positive pressure of this way of support. It doesn’t work out.

“You’re devastated when it doesn’t work out. All you can do is dust yourself off and show what type of character you are, and get ready for the next challenge.

“Because the group have worked hard during the course of our domestic season, we had a home quarter-final to look forward to and, now, off the back of finishing second, we have a home semi-final to look forward to.

“Does it repair losing another Champions Cup final? Of course it doesn’t. Will people come after us for losing? Yes, they will.

“What can we do other than just keep putting ourselves back in that situation again?

“So it’s positive pressure. Don’t look at pressure as always negative. We have a positive pressure because we love this team. Absolutely love it. Love turning up for work every day. Love getting out there and ideally playing well.

“We’re human. All our opposition are trying to play well also.

“So can you be more positive on that?’