CULLEN RELISHING CHANCE FOR REVENGE ON FRENCH

be back in the mix for the rematch with O’Gara’s side and Cullen is relishing the chance to secure a second Champions Cup under his watch, repeating the feats of Bilbao in 2018. ‘We lost that semi-final against La Rochelle last year,’ the Leinster head coach said. ‘We didn’t quite deliver our best performance on the day. At this stage of the tournament, you need to be delivering close to your best against the best teams in Europe. It’s a hugely exciting challenge, away against a French team.’ La Rochelle, seventh in the Top14 standings, have a bigleague clash with Stade Francais next weekend but Cullen can afford to rest the majority of his frontliners ahead of their final regular season URC game against Munster next Saturday. The defending champions are assured of a home quarter-final in the play-offs with Johnny Sexton and the rest of his fellow Ireland internationals poised to take the week off to prepare for the European finale. Munster will be fully-loaded for their trip to the capital as Johann van Graan’s men try to secure second in the URC table and home advantage at Thomond Park in the playoffs. Ulster and Connacht are also back in action this week. Dan Mc Farland’s squad will have a make-or-break meeting with Sharks in Belfast on Friday night, while Connacht welcome Zebre to Galway for a URC dead rubber on Saturday.