Ulster will punish our mistakes, warns Cullen
LEO CULLEN has challenged his players to move up a gear ahead of next Saturday’s Pro14 final at the Aviva Stadium or risk an ambush from a resurgent Ulster side. Leinster are on course for a hat-trick of Pro14 titles and are currently on an unbeaten run of 24 games, in all competitions, but Cullen’s all-conquering squad have yet to fully hit their stride this season. Ulster will arrive at the Aviva as underdogs, but will take confidence from their performance against Leinster in last year’s European Champions Cup quarter-final meeting at the same venue when they pushed the hosts all the way before going down 21-18. And, after seeing his side scrape past Munster last Friday night, Cullen wants to see big improvements ahead of that clash in the capital. ‘Sometimes it’s just about nailing some of the basics,’ said the Leinster head coach. ‘A couple of cheap penalties where we can maybe paint better pictures for some of our actions. We dropped one or two balls (against Munster) as well, and got bundled into touch. Little things in the game. ‘You just need to nail all the basics. The conditions were very hard out there. ‘You would hope we will get
better. It’s the second game for a lot of players. ‘It’s not hugely dissimilar for the other teams but we are through and looking to improve. That’s the challenge whether we do or not. ‘That’s the preparation piece going into our next performance against whoever that is going to be against. ‘We just need to focus on ourselves and try and improve and get better. They are all the soundbites but we actually have to go about the process of actually doing it now. All of our efforts will be focused on that.’ This is the beginning of a huge month for both provinces with the Pro14 title at stake before Leinster and Ulster gear up for the knockout stages of Europe the following week. All of those games could potentially take place in Dublin and Leinster are primed for a huge month ahead. ‘We are in here in the
Aviva, it’s four weeks in a row and it becomes a little more familiar I guess, even though it’s very off to be here without supporters and that’s probably the thing we miss the most, being here with friends and family and the people who are used to cheering us on,’ Cullen added. Meanwhile, Saracens outhalf Owen Farrell will face a disciplinary panel tomorrow evening after his red card for a high tackle in Saturday’s 28-18 home defeat by Wasps. The England captain is facing a ban of at least three weeks and is set to miss his side’s European Champions Cup quarterfinal meeting with Leinster on September 19.