South Africans will lift standards, says Cullen

LEO CULLEN has welcomed the proposed addition of South Africa’s powerhouse Super Rugby franchises into an expanded Pro14 next year. South African rugby bosses have voted to move the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers north in 2021 at the expense of the Southern Kings and Cheetahs, who joined the Pro12 in 2017. It means the likes of Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit could soon be featuring against Leinster and Cullen believes the move can only be a good thing for a league that has been dominated by the Blues in recent years. ‘I don’t know the exact specifics of it but it has to be a positive for the quality of the competition we’re in, for sure, because they’re four quality teams with unbelievably strong tradition, they’re breeding grounds for seriously talented players,’ said the Leinster head coach. ‘If you look at South African World Cup winners, they’re the world champions at the moment and how those four teams would have fed into that squad of players, so yeah, they’re four powerhouses and what it’s going to do to the competition, it definitely beefs it up. ‘Exactly what that format looks like, we don’t know, but the experience of playing those teams will raise the standard of all the teams in the league. That’s a positive.’ Meanwhile, England centre Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out for six months with a torn Achilles tendon. Ireland face Eddie Jones’s side in Twickenham next month in the Autumn Nations Cup.