BLUES BOSS LEO IS SEMI CONTENT

Leinster

LEO CULLEN admits that beating Exeter in one of Leinster’s best ever European displays will count for nothing if they don’t make the Champions Cup final.

The Blues came back from 14-0 down after eight minutes to smash the reigning European and Premiership champions at their own Sandy Park ground.

They did so without Johnny Sexton for over 50 minutes after the skipper failed a head injury assessment.

Bar that disastrous opening, Leinster were dominant. Josh van der Flier,

Robbie Henshaw, Ronan Kelleher and Sexton’s replacement Ross Byrne – who kicked 17 points – all stood out.

Cullen (inset) was obviously pleased but was also straight down to business about what lies ahead. Munster are due to be up next in the Rainbow Cup first round in under a fortnight before a Champions Cup semi against La Rochelle in three weeks. However, that inaugural competition is now in doubt due to fears over travel restrictions on the South African franchises due to take part and an alternative PRO14 Cup could be played instead.

“Unfortunately, it’s hard to get that excited with winning quarter-finals,” the head coach said. “Yeah, it’s a good performance and lots of good stuff in it. But if you don’t turn up in the semis then what was the whole point of putting in a positive performance in the quarter-finals? You’ve got to be able to back these things up because so many teams have peaked in an earlier round and then they’re out of the tournament in the following round. It’s important that we go back to the start again and prepare well.”

That opening spell that saw Tom O’flaherty dance in for two tries will come under intense scrutiny at Leinster HQ in the coming days.

The start reminded the Blues supremo of the win over Ulster a couple of months ago, when his team were sluggish to begin with but got over two sin-binnings to win.

“We looked a little bit shy in the first 10 minutes, whatever the reason is for that, it’s something we’ll have to look at in more detail,” the Blues supremo acknowledged. But he was pleased his back three delivered, Jordan Larmour scoring two well-taken tries while James Lowe, who grabbed Leinster’s opener after a torrid Six Nations, was on form.

“James definitely had a point to prove, he’s a quality operator and just wants to go out there,” said Cullen, who noted that Dave Kearney was unlucky not to start. “He gave it a good crack and he’s done well. Jordan has done well to finish his two tries.”