Cullen awaits Schmidt’s cherry picks as he settles into new role
IF LEO CULLEN is losing sleep at the moment it is down to his nine-month old child rather than his first Pro12 season as Leinster head coach.
The rookie spoke confidently about his new role last week, saying he is braced for the stress and strains of the new job which gets underway next Friday at Edinburgh.
‘It’s a huge responsibility. Not something that I took lightly. There is going to be a lot of tough decisions and I’m not going to look forward to some of those conversations taking place, but I understand it’s the reality of trying to manage a very, very competitive squad.’
Indication as to how competitive it can be in the early stages of the new Pro12 season will come tomorrow when Joe Schmidt decides which of the 23 Leinster players vying for World Cup selection he wants.
With last May’s beaten finalists Munster and semi-finalists Ulster set to lose far fewer players and with both provinces having emerged with some credit following initially tricky first seasons under Anthony Foley and Neil Doak respectively, whatever scrutiny is given over to the league in Ireland during the World Cup will fall on Leinster.
It remains to be seen whether the new regime can quickly infuse some energy into a group whose reputation took a buffeting last season under the axed Matt O’Connor, failing to reach the play-offs after appearing in five consecutive finals.
That pain festered through the off-season. Injury meant Kevin McLaughlin didn’t play a league game since last December, but he wasn’t oblivious to the damage done to Leinster’s credibility, which he is now intent on rectifying as temporary captain during an opening phase that features just three Pro12 games in six weekends before the schedule cranks into overdrive with 16 league and cup games across 16 weekends.
A good mate of Cullen when the new coach was in his trophy-lifting pomp, McLaughlin’s appointment is potentially shrewd despite the different dynamic that now exists between the pair.
‘You can’t be best friends when you are a coach-player relationship. That is just the way it has to be,’ he claimed, knowing there is much work to be done to restore wounded dressing room pride.
‘It was a tough season for us. We expect to be in the top four. That is what our supporters expect and that is the standard driven. We dropped off last season so it can’t happen again.
‘We can’t afford to have another season where we are that inconsistent and don’t respect our teammates as much, don’t respect our supporters enough. Everyone is really focused on that right now.’