Cullen finally gets rich reward for hard slog of the day job

SUCH is Leo Cullen’s excitement about donning the irish jersey against Fiji at the RDS today, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was his first cap rather than his 20th.

It is two years and what seems like a lifetime since he won his last full cap against Argentina, an appearance that was in turn five years on from his first run against New Zealand.

At 31, he could have been forgiven for thinking the clock was ticking too quickly, but Cullen has never been a pessimist – even through the rough times when injury got in the way of progress. Last season, having been on the cusp of a recall, he was knocked out of the running at a crucial time as Declan Kidney planned for the Six Nations.

As Kidney and a host of Cullen’s Leinster colleagues put Ireland back on the map by powering magnificently to the Grand Slam title, the big second row had something left to give Irish rugby, albeit at a level below the Test arena.

Cullen had to content himself with doing his primary job as Leinster captain and he did it with a considerable degree of excellence; he used all the immense experienced gained through his involvement with the Irish Schools, U19, U21 and A teams as well as in his 19 previous Tests to spearhead Leinster’s successful European challenge.

It goes without saying that it takes a special type of player who can play a couple of seasons in the tough rugby environment of Leicester, and be deemed good enough to captain them 15 times, before his return to lead Leinster.

There will be many rooting for the popular Cullen at the RDS today, especially those who heard this reaction to his selection: “Playing for Ireland is like a reward for doing your day-job, which is with your provincial team or your club team.

“It has been frustrating at times. I wasn’t in contention last year after breaking my collar bone. I was up in Santry just after our second European game last year getting a plate put in. That curtailed me greatly, and then the second game back I had a shoulder tear. It was a frustrating time, but it was nice to get back for the run of games at the end of the season.

“I’m delighted to get the chance now anyway; when that happens you appreciate it all the more. I’ve sat and watched plenty of games from my couch on TV at home. So I’m really looking forward to it.”

Yet, if the tummy will be rumbling today, Cullen isn’t quite sure what the feeling will be like running onto a pitch normally reserved for Leinster’s home Heineken Cup and Magners League games. “It will be a bit different, I suppose, but it should be of benefit to those of us who have played on the pitch so many times in the past.

“I suppose we will be used to the crowd as well; two weekends that stand out for me this season were the Magners League clash with Munster and the Heineken Cup against London Irish, when the noise levels were pretty intense. On the other side you can have a different atmosphere and it might be down to the performance and the way the team gels with the crowd. It will be up to us to get the crowd behind us from early on.”

Cullen is one of the senior players on today’s Irish side, but he was quick to point out that he is not nearly the oldest. “John Hayes still has a few years on most of us,” he quipped.

But the second row has no inhibitions about playing alongside much younger players: “I love being in the same team as these young guys; they bring such enthusiasm and a sense of free spirit to the table. They don’t appear to have the mental baggage some of us might have.

Cullen might only be back in the camp but that won’t hold him back if words of wisdom are needed. He remarked: “I haven’t changed a huge amount of what I’ve done over the years. It’s a natural progression. As you get older you do start to voice your opinions more and you tend not to sit back so, yes, I might have something to say if required.”