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.