CULLEN REMAINS ALERT TO WASPS’ THREAT

LEO CULLEN has called on his Leinster side to finish the job against Wasps next Sunday and secure a home quarter-final in the European Champions Cup. Cullen’s injury-depleted squad took control of Pool 1 with a resounding 29-13 victory over Toulouse at the RDS last Saturday. Leinster will face the Premiership outfit, who are winless after five rounds in Europe, in Coventry, knowing a win will seal home advantage in the knockout stages. ‘The job’s not done, people will talk, “Oh great performance etc”, but the job’s not done,’ said Leinster’s head coach. ‘So we’ve a hell of a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be which is top of our pool, then try and get as decent a seeding as we can, because you’re not only competing against your own pool, but other pools too, that’s an unusual dynamic. ‘We saw first hand ourselves over there that if you get it wrong you can come unstuck very badly.’ Leinster have come a long way since their last visit to the Ricoh Arena back in 2016. Cullen’s first European campaign in charge ended in miserable fashion with this side suffering a 51-10 trouncing at the hands of an Elliot Daly-inspired Wasps side. The province have come a long way since that traumatic defeat and will return to Coventry as reigning European champions, and on course for a successful title defence. Garry Ringrose (above), who was named man-of-the-match after the Toulouse triumph, was only a rookie in the squad back then, but the Leinster and Ireland midfielder is up to speed with the dangers that Leinster will face next Sunday. ‘The players will be well aware of that and the challenge it is to play over there,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t playing over there a few years ago but I remember Leinster going to Wasps and it isn’t a nice memory. The guys who came back really didn’t enjoy that at all. ‘We’re well aware that if you don’t turn up in the right frame of mind and play well over there that that’s what can happen to you. I don’t remember what the exact scoreline was but it was a thumping that Leinster got there. That will be in the backs of our minds as well.’