LEO WARNS HIS TROOPS
Cullen wary of Blues’ tricky start
LEINSTER coach Leo Cullen is concerned about some of his side’s pre-season form as they ratchet up their preparations ahead of a tricky start to the defence of their Pro14 title.
Following a narrow win over Pro D2 outfit Montauban, last season’s double winners signed off on their on-field warm-ups with a worrying 42-17 defeat to Newcastle Falcons last weekend. And with an away date with Cardiff in week one, quickly followed by another road trip to Llanelli to face Scarlets in the second round, Cullen knows his side have to be better.
Add in the fact that any of the Ireland squad who toured Australia this summer will not be available — including Johnny Sexton and Ross Byrne — Joey Carbery is now in Munster and that back up out-half Ciarán Frawely is out with an arm injury, and Cullen has plenty to ponder in the next week.
‘Well there were aspects of the performance in France which concerned us. At this time of year, when you go through a live game situation, it exposes a lot of things,’ said Cullen.
‘So there are some aspects we would be quite happy with and other aspects we would want to improve. It’s about getting that fine balance right.
‘It is a tough start, Cardiff, it’s a bit more difficult because they have a new coaching group as well, we can look at a few things they did last season so we’re a bit limited in terms of the footage we have, the access to the footage we’ve had of them and what they’ve been working on in pre-season.’
While Cullen and his management team are in a better position than many of the league’s other sides due to the size and quality of the squad, recent history suggests the Leinster head coach will look for more from his fringe players.
The last time Leinster played a competitive game without most of their frontline players they were 47-10 losers against Connacht last April, while Benetton Rugby beat them at the RDS in the previous Pro14 game.
Despite having had 55 different players at his disposal last season, Cullen thinks he will require a similar number again this year to reach the knockout stages of the competition.
‘Even going back to last season, there were a number of things we could have done better. It is a challenge for players and coaches. Over the course of the last few seasons, a lot of teams have been getting better: players, coaches, and resources have been pumped into teams.
‘The competition is strengthening all the time. That is the challenge. All the time we are trying to bring in a lot of young players.
‘We have 45 in our senior squad but we used 55 players in the Pro14 last year. To get to the situation where you’re actually able to get to a play-off game you have to use a lot of players, so you are trying to get them all as ready as they can possibly be.
‘Because it’s important, we need to make sure we have 55 players who can play at that level.’
Speaking last week, Munster coach Johann van Graan said he expected to see less of his international contingent this season as Ireland seek to have their players in peak shape ahead of the World Cup, but Joe Schmidt has insisted that would not be the case since then.
Cullen is keen to see his best talent in a blue shirt.
‘If you think last year, we were coming off the Lions tour, there were five fellas who came back later. It depends on the individual.
‘At the end of tours, long seasons, some guys have issues that they have been playing with. Dan Leavy had the shoulder, Josh van der Flier still coming back from his surgery, Sean recovering too, so I think we can expect plenty of changes to the team in the first six weeks.
‘But then you will see us build that bit of cohesion as we get closer in to Europe. Then you hope there will be a number of guys who will get picked for Ireland.
‘Everybody is used to that system. It serves everybody well.’