Cullen sees Connacht clash as season’s defining moment

It’s a fair bet that one of the most inspired decisions made by Leinster Rugby in the last decade was to woo Leo Cullen back from high-end English Premiership rugby with Leicester Tigers, and then make him captain.

Three Heineken Cup titles on, Cullen is set to make his 100th appearance for the Irish province against Connacht in the RaboDirect Pro12 at the RDS on Saturday night (7:45pm kick-off) and he is well aware of the importance of the fixture.

Apart from wanting to avenge an embarrassing 36-6 defeat at the Sportsground earlier in the season, Leinster need the points to help keep them in touch with the top four — they are currently a single point outside the play-off group.