Leo: All part of the plan

LEINSTER coach Leo Cullen said that Jonathan Sexton was not injured when he was withdrawn after an hour against Munster.

He said the decision to take off the World Player of the Year after had been decided in advance.

Munster were hanging on to a 16-10 lead when Sexton was replaced by Ciaran Frawley.

Cullen admitted it was tough to adhere to the plan with the game in the balance.

He said: “It is, yeah, because you want your experienced guys out there that have been through so much in the game.

“But having said that Ciaran will be better for the experience and, yeah, we stuck to the plan.

“We wanted to get Ciaran the exposure to that game so that’s why we made that change at 60 minutes.”

Sexton had an ice pack on his right knee after being taken off but this was precautionary.

And Cullen is hoping that disciplinary chiefs regard James Lowe’s tackle on Andrew Conway as clumsy rather than malicious in deciding the length of the ban the winger faces.

The Leinster boss added: “You would hope so yes, like it is a clumsy challenge. We just hope the winger from

Munster is okay first and foremost.

“It is clumsy from James the way he is looking because, again, the environment it is pretty chaotic out there. You need to have all your wits and senses about you.”

Cullen’s men entertain Ulster next Saturday before putting their Champions Cup title on the line at home to Toulouse and away to Wasps.

The biggest changes in the game for 40 years come into force tomorrow with a bid to speed up play and simplify the rules.

But the Ryder Cup hero has already helped revolutionise the image of golf with his rock-star looks and appeal – and he celebrated Europe’s spectacular win over the Americans by crowd-surfing in Paris.

The Everton fan, who became a father to Frankie last year, said: “It is not a cliche to say golf is for the well-off – it is the reality. But the old system which used to make it elite is fading away. With more people playing, the price is going down. It still remains an expensive sport but a new wind is blowing through golf and it is great for this sport.

“If I can contribute a bit to this evolution, I will be delighted. I don’t need to do a lot. I don’t