Leo Cullen cautions Leinster are still ‘a mile off’
The St Stephen’s Day defeat to Munster in Limerick with a weakened hand demonstrated clearly that the reserves so lauded in Dublin still have a way to go.
Cullen understandably opted for a much stronger selection two days ago for the visit of an Ulster side shorn of key players, but the failure to claim a bonus point despite a 22-0 lead built on the back of three tries inside 43 minutes again exposed a work in progress.
The head coach admitted as much. Cullen spoke of frustration at their inability to claim the five points on offer. He referenced a sluggishness, a lack of composure and his belief that Leinster are “still a little bit off” when it comes to the clarity of purpose required.
“If we want to be serious about progressing in two tournaments there’s a lot of areas we can be better at and that’s the challenge,” said Cullen. “Where are we at? It’s hard to put a number on it, but we’re still a mile off where we can get to so there’s a lot of things we can do better.”
There are factors to be taken into account here, not least the reality that this was ta second game in just five days for the brains trust to get through, if not the same players.
National duties have deprived the province of a glut of talent and experience for much of the campaign too — not least the early part of this week when so many are once again engaged in a mini- Ireland camp.
That has an inevitable effect on preparations and continuity and this New Year’s Eve victory was symbolic of the distance Leinster have travelled since last season and also of the journey that remains ahead of them in 2017.
They were sublime at times here.
All three tries were things of beauty: Rory O’Loughlin’s individual blitz through the Ulster defence for the first, Luke McGrath’s touch down off a clever short lineout move and O’Loughlin’s second on the restart when he latched onto a Ross Byrne grubber in the corner.
Leinster’s kids and academy stars have been revelations almost to a man this season and Cullen didn’t disagree when asked if O’Loughlin’s four tries in his last four games had propelled him into the discussion about green jerseys. “Definitely. Rory’s gone really, really well.”
Yet moments like those offered by O’Loughlin were counterbalanced by some sloppy individual errors by colleagues and by a collective failure to keep a tighter rein on the game against a side that regularly seeks to prosper with a more expansive approach.
“We said in the changing room afterwards it’s good that we can beat a team like Ulster and still have room for improvement,” said openside flanker Josh van der Flier. “I’d rather be top (of the table) obviously. We’ve got to be a bit better.”
Any shortcomings Leinster displayed were relative when compared to Ulster. Though much better in a second-half which they dominated in terms of territory and possession before Charles Piutau’s 77th-minute try, the visitors were undone by an off-colour opening period summed up by Tommy Bowe’s misery.
The Ireland wing failed to gather a gilt-edged intercept with an empty field ahead of him, he dropped the ball when let loose in the Leinster 22 and with the try line beckoning and he suffered the ignominy of a Ruan Pienaar pass cannoning off his head.
Ulster, in general, appeared to be treading water.
A place in the European knockout stages is no more than a long shot and they have ground to make up in the Pro12. Leinster are appreciably further ahead with a significantly healthier balance of star wattage in the pack and among the backs.
Gaps remain, however. Cullen said he was hopeful that Jonny Sexton would make the Zebre game this Friday, but Ross Byrne continues to be Leinster’s most valuable asset as the Ireland first-choice ten and Joey Carbery go about their respective rehabilitations.
“Ross has gone well,” said Cullen. “That’s a positive step. It’s a big ask for Ross, he’s come in trying to back up such a physical game (against Munster). It’s a huge step up for a guy like Ross. He’s still in the academy.
“He’ll step up to the senior squad next year and he acquitted himself really well, he cramped up at the end. We’ve lots of other injured guys as well, so we’re trying to get them all back into the mix and then we can have discussions about how they’re going to play.”
I Nacewa; A Byrne, G Ringrose, N Reid, R O’Loughlin; R Byrne, L McGrath; J McGrath, S Cronin, M Bent; D Toner, H Triggs; S O’Brien, J van der Flier, J Heaslip.
A Porter for A Byrne (57-67); R Strauss for Cronin and J Gibson-Park for L McGrath (both 60); Z Kirchner for O’Loughlin (65); J Loughman for Porter (HIA, 67) and for Bent (69); M Kearney for Triggs (66); J Conan for O’Brien (68); T Daly for R Byrne (73).
C Piutau: A Trimble, D Cave, S McCloskey, T Bowe; R Pienaar, P Marshall; A Warwick, R Herring, R Ah You; K Treadwell, F van der Merwe; C Ross, S Reidy, R Wilson.
J Andrew for Herring (27); J Simpson for Ah You (48); C Henry for Wilson (54); L Ludik for Trimble (59); C Black for Warwick (62); J Stockdale for Bowe (65); P Browne for van der Merwe and B Herron for Marshall (both 73).
J Lacey (IRFU).
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