‘Exhausted’ Cullen praises James after 11th hour call
VICTORY on the opening day in Europe was nothing new for Leo Cullen, veteran of so many Leinster campaigns as skipper and now as coach. However, he’s still learning to expect the unexpected, yesterday’s second-row emergency following on from the curveballs of last month in South Africa.
Back then, two players were deported for arriving with the incorrect visas and another chucked off an internal flight for failure to heed the safety announcements.
Ahead of yesterday’s game with Montpellier he lost Scott Fardy to the labour ward at the 11th hour, the Australian featuring in an early morning dash to hospital with his wife rather than getting his first taste of European Cup action.
Instead, that appetiser went to James Ryan, the muchheralded Ireland Under 20 protégé from 2016 who was handed a senior Test debut last June by Joe Schmidt without ever playing a provincial game under Cullen.
Cullen first received a text at 3.50am from Fardy and another followed at 6.10am resulting in a message being forwarded to Ryan by the coach to get ready, the late call-up getting the nod even though Ross Molony had been the selected second row bench replacement. The leapfrog decision was vindicated by the youngster in his 64-minute appearance.
‘James was prepped up early in the week doing a lot of Scott’s role. We had him on stand-by, ready to go if needs be. Ross and (Devin Toner) are quite similar players and you need that bit of contrast,’ said Cullen.
‘James was very strong in the contact, a good athlete, good engine. It’s tough taking down those big (Montpellier) guys. Scott has a ton of experience so it is hard to replace that, but James has got his first taste of European rugby. He acquitted himself well, was in at 9am going through his role and did very well.’
Ryan’s ability to survive the furnace wasn’t Cullen’s only relief. Despite a four-try bonus, Leinster failed to fully escape Montpellier’s clutches and the tense conclusion wasn’t easy to negotiate.
‘I feel exhausted, it was stressful viewing at times,’ he admitted, thanking God that Nemani Nadolo, a thorn in making 118 metres off 21 carries, kicked ahead on the final play to give Leinster the chance to boot into touch and seal the seven-point success.
‘He’s virtually unstoppable,’ he said of the 6ft 5in Fijian who checks in at 123kgs. ‘He has a lot of mass on him. Some guys are giving him six stone in collisions, plus he is skilful. Isa (Nacewa) talked about his offloading ability and he was drawing two, three defenders into a confined space and was able to get the ball away. He was a challenge.’
Bilbao next May is the longterm aim for Leinster, but Glasgow away on Saturday is now on their horizon following this home win where skipper Nacewa’s ankle was in the wars.
‘We’re reasonably pleased with the overall outcome. It wasn’t pretty at times but we knew they were going to be a huge challenge,’ Cullen added.
‘For a lot of young guys to step in today they showed a lot of bravery and courage against some very big physical individuals that have a lot of power and quality throughout. We got a win and can move on now.’