Cullen’s men must learn lessons from Munster and keep ‘Wolf-pack’ silent

A MOMENT of truth for a team on the up, a sense-check of their position in the European game and an opportunity to move closer to ending a six-year wait for their fourth Champions Cup. The stakes are high for Leinster against Saracens.

Yesterday, Leo Cullen was reminded of the difficult days when the squad he was part of failed to build on their strong pool performances in the 2000s, but hopes that this squad are ready to take the opportunity they created for themselves during the winter when they finished as top seeds.

They might have expected an easier quarter-final draw than the reigning two-time champions, but their attitude right from the start has been ‘bring it on’.

Cullen conceded that this is a real test of where his squad stands – a thorough examination of their progress.

Pass it and they’ll return to the stage they reached last year with a significant feather in their cap; fail it and all of their good work will come undone and they will watch on from the margins as their rivals compete for the trophy for another year.

“The players are unbelievably ambitious, especially coming off the back of where they have been over the last couple of months,” Cullen said at Leinster’s UCD base.

“That push-on in the Six Nations, taking the next step… they have come back the same hungry players they were when they left.

“We qualified for the quarter-finals (after beating) Glasgow. We then went away against Montpellier, made a number of changes, and that was important because you want to build depth for all the eventualities that may take place over the course of a season, and yeah, we would have loved to have played the quarter-final the following weekend but we knew we couldn’t.

“We watched it unfold, and once we saw Saracens, we thought , ‘whoa, Saracens’, because that is the ultimate test for us. Are we ready? It is hard to say. We have tried to deliver a clear plan to the players, the players have taken it on board now, and we just need to go out and do it. They are hungry to do so, they want to succeed.

“But it is going to be a tough challenge. Nobody is taken anything for granted here. I didn’t know we were favourites, I am surprised by that, because I would have thought Saracens were the favourites because they have won the tournament the past two years.

“What has changed from their end? Not a huge amount. So we have to be very, very good.”

Leinster will need to learn from Munster’s shortcomings against the same opponents, at the same venue, in last year’s semi-final.

Try as they might, the Reds couldn’t break the ‘Wolfpack’ defence down and when they gave the English side possession they were squeezed by their pressure game.

Leinster’s style is different to Munster’s and their mission is to impose their own game on to the champions inspite of their suffocating defence and clever territorial game.

“It is a great challenge,” Cullen said. “They play a strong, pressure game where they are happy for the scoreboard to go three, six, nine and put pressure on teams. They want teams to chase the game early against them which plays into their hands because they’re very, very strong defensively.

“They’re just a very efficient team, they don’t waste much energy in their own half.

“(Richard) Wigglesworth, in terms of his exits, they’ll kick a lot from No 9, contestable kicks and they’ll put pressure on the opposition. They’re strong at the breakdown, etc.

“We need to be sure we’re careful about how we manage our way around the field, that we’re not playing to what their strengths are.”

There are key battles all over the pitch, but as usual the breakdown will decide where this one falls and in Dan Leavy (pictured), Leinster have the form openside in Europe.

DISRUPT

Up against the vastly experienced Schalk Burger, the 23-year-old will have his hands full, but if he can spoil Saracens’ ball and disrupt the flow of possession to Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell, then Leinster can get up in their opponents’ faces and cause problems of their own.

Sarries will have noted that Leinster still have issues with their wide defence and, while he is superb going forward, they’ll fancy testing James Lowe on the turn and on defence, with Liam Williams a real threat.

Leinster will back their pack to provide clean, quick ball to a backline laced with good decision-makers, but the loss of Jack Conan limits their off-loading capacity, even if it releases Scott Fardy to play in his preferred position and have more of an impact around the park.

The loss of Robbie Henshaw is a big one, but Isa Nacewa has played plenty of rugby at inside-centre this season and will link up well with Garry Ringrose, who will hope to carry his Six Nations form into the European arena.

Johnny Sexton will, as ever, play a key role in dictating the play and ensuring Leinster are operating in the right areas of the pitch.

Although Saracens wobbled during the pool stages, Leinster are expecting them to arrive fully locked and loaded tomorrow – and that is quite the proposition.

They were the best team in the pool stage and their challenge now is to prove they remain the leading lights by downing the holders.

With the Grand Slam bounce in their step, they are up to meeting that challenge head

on. Verdict: Leinster