Focused Cullen wary of Wasps backlash

LEO CULLEN may or may not have heard of George Santayana, but the Leinster captain would agree with the Spanish-American poet’s famous assertion about those unable to remember the past being condemned to repeat it.

Today’s meeting of Wasps and Leinster in Twickenham will certainly stir memories of the pair’s last meeting back in October, when the Irish province breached the 40-point barrier in a red letter day at the RDS.

Cullen’s thoughts have drifted further back into the mists of time, to 2007 in fact when his Leicester Tigers mauled Wasps in a Premiership league match before succumbing to a painful sting of the tail three weeks later in the Heineken Cup final.

Leicester also put 40 points on the London side that first day. It was a defeat that confirmed Wasps’ absence from the league play-offs for the first time in five seasons and the London side exacted swift retribution in the European finale.

“They’re well capable of those turnarounds and we’re well aware of how confident they are playing in Twickenham,” says Cullen. “They have a very good record there. They were more than happy to move the game there.”

The last meeting between these two sides in Dublin has been held aloft ever since as a shining light in Leinster’s flickering season, as an indication of what they are capable of achieving, but it’s significance today is difficult to ascertain.

For a start, two of Leinster’s tries three months ago arrived courtesy of blocked kicks and another owed it’s genesis to a slip from the full-back. Wasps have found a groove since then too, winning five of their last six games.

“It’s such a long time ago,” says Cullen. “It’s 12 weeks. A lot has happened since then. You’ve seen it so many times in Europe, the massive swings between home and away scorelines.

“Twickenham brings a totally different challenge. We performed well on the day and Wasps would probably be pretty disappointed with the way they performed. It’s just a new challenge, new game. I don’t know if we can look too much at the other game.”

Cullen spent two years at Welford Road during which time he faced Wasps five times. But you don’t need to have packed down against the Adams Park side to know that everything they do is based on physicality, with or without the ball.

Renowned for their traditional blitz defence, Cullen describes them as “aggressive and in your face”. How could they be otherwise with an old warrior like Shaun Edwards setting the agenda?

Their recent form aside, Wasps find themselves backed into a corner today by their lowly position in the Guinness Premiership table, injuries to key players and growing uncertainty over a number of players’ contracts for next season.

A win this afternoon is critical if the English side is to salvage something from a season which has seen them struggle to cope with the new ELVs and left them playing catch-up ever since, but Cullen dismisses the subplots as simply irrelevant.

“I can’t talk for other people but there’s enough at stake in this game without all those other things happening on the side. Everyone knows the importance of the match.”

The venue will hardly upset the visitors. The number of Leinster players to have claimed victories there on international duty runs into double figures while Cullen has tastes success there in Premiership and EDF finals.

The province’s European win ratio on English soil is an impressive 58%, a figure due largely to an incredible run of six straight wins between the 99/00 and 04/05 seasons but they have lost on their three visits since.

Should that run stretch to four and Leinster fail to take a bonus point, qualification for the knockout stages would be reliant on a favour from Castres, who have lost twice and drawn once in the Top 14 since defeating Leinster before Christmas.

No-one can argue that Leinster possess the ammunition to claim the win, but they have misfired for most of the season, and have been more dogged than dazzling in putting recent wins together.

Cullen accepts that it has been “a bit up and down” and that improvement is a must this weekend.

That sorry evening against Castres has hung over the side like a dark cloud ever since, and it will haunt them for much longer if the result goes against them today.

“I don’t think people gave enough credit to Castres,” says Cullen. “Going to the south of France, it’s not like Irish teams have a tradition of going down there every year and spanking French opposition. That just doesn’t happen.”

No-one expects Leinster to deliver a spanking today. A win of any description would do just fine.