LEO CULLEN ISN’T one to make grandiose statements, so when he starts lavishing praise on one of his players, it tends to stand out.
Shortly after naming his team for tomorrow’s Champions Cup quarter-final date with La Rochelle, the Leinster boss held a press conference at Aviva Stadium this morning. Cullen has made two big calls in his team, starting Jason Jenkins ahead of Ross Molony in the second row while naming Will Connors in his back row, at the expense of Josh van der Flier.
Connors played a huge role in Leinster’s pool stage win at La Rochelle in December but tomorrow will be a significant step up, with the 27-year-old – who endured a difficult run with injuries in recent season – set to feature in a Champions Cup game for just the third time in his career.
Yet his performance at the Stade Marcel Deflandre earlier this season clearly made a big impression on the Leinster coaches, who have backed him to repeat the trick at Aviva Stadium tomorrow.
“I think he’s the best chop tackler in the game, that I’ve come across,” said Cullen.
“I’m struggling to… I’m sort of thinking who is better out there. In terms of getting guys on their backs, and they’ve got some big guys so get them on their backs and make them have to work, I think he delivers that in spades and we’ll see how he goes.
“I thought he did a good job in the pool stage [game], and we’ll see how he goes tomorrow. But he’s a great guy in the squad, lads love playing with him, and Josh will give good impact as well, like he did over there, and we’ll need that over the course of the game.”
With Jenkins starting ahead of Molony in the second row, Ryan Baird will call the Leinster lineout – Cullen putting that selection call down to the South African’s physicality.
“Ross delivers a real sense of clarity, Jason is a big man, again going back to that just big, physical piece, just hopefully Jason will deliver on that physical part.
Scrum-wise we want to try to go after La Rochelle, they’ve a very young 20-year-old loosehead there, so it’s making sure we’re painting dominant pictures around the set piece, I think that’s important.
“Lads get a lot of confidence from Jason and from Will.
“Again, it’s going to be an intriguing battle all across the park, there are many sub-plots there, isn’t there, as there always are in these big games.”
Leinster have also opted for a 6:2 bench split as they look to meet La Rochelle’s power game head on.
“We see it as a 23-man group. It’s not a 15, it’s a 23, and guys know they have specific roles when they come on later in the game,” Cullen said.
“We’ll see how the game plays out, but that’s the intention anyway, particularly around that back five. The front row is pretty similar, Mikey Milne comes onto the bench. Again that was a close call, he’s been going well, Mikey, with Cian [Healy], so he’s been excellent in terms of impact off the bench. Hopefully we’ll see some of that in a huge game.
“6:2, prioritising the forwards over the backs to a certain extent, and Ciarán [Frawley] gives us a lot of versatility and coverage there as well, the fact he’s played 10, 12, 15, even he’s played Test level at 15 as well, and at 10. He’s hugely experienced now, gathering experience all the time, and he gives us that versatility.
“You’ve seen Lukey [McGrath] and Jamison [Gibson-Park] and Josh van der Flier on the wing before, so there’s a bit of comfort there as well.
“Guys have been good, it’s a short turnaround and that’s the big thing for us. It’s a short turnaround, but it’s a short turnaround for everybody. La Rochelle are travelling and all the rest, and lots of commentary around that. It’s a short turnaround, just getting the group back ready together again.
“The big thing for us is it’s amazing to be back here. The public interest in the game in terms of people buying tickets, and wanting to support us, hopefully, is fantastic. We’re hugely excited now by the challenge.”
