Cullen follows the money trail

Time and again, Leo Cullen has teed up a Champions League tie as a meeting of opposites.

The Leinster head coach has talked about the money available to, and freely spent, by the likes of Toulon, Wasps, and Clermont in his two-and-a-bit years in charge and how the Irish provinces have sought to succeed with a very different business model.

Exeter Chiefs don’t quite fit the Anglo-French mould we in Ireland like to drape over most opponents from the Top 14 and Aviva Premiership, though. Hewn from an unfashionable but charming West Country town, they are the sort of country cousins that are easier to like.

Led by a local in director of rugby Rob Baxter, they are far from bulk suppliers to Eddie Jones’ squad and a fair sprinkling of the 23 named to face Leinster at Sandy Park tomorrow have found a rich seam in England’s south-west after long careers mining the domestic club game for the big one.

Sixteen of their squad tomorrow are English. A nice sprinkling are ‘local’ boys from Exeter itself, Plymouth, and Torquay. Seven of those natives have been honoured with senior caps, but few have made deep inroads into the Test game.

The rest of tomorrow’s squad is made up of a pair of Aussies, another duo of Irishmen, and two Welshmen. England’s Jack Nowell, recovering from injury, is their only Lion and starts on the bench. His compatriot, Jack Nowell, adds a layer of stardust at 13.

Toulon they are not. Or Leinster, for that matter.

“They do invest,” said Cullen, accepting the homespun analogy while diluting it somewhat at the same time.

“They’ve invested heavily in their squad as well. They’ve such depth across… take tight-head as an example.”

He does have a point there. Exeter can boast Harry Williams (England international), Tomas Francis (Welsh international), Greg Holmes (a former Wallaby), and Moray Low (37 caps with Scotland), so they aren’t bereft of elite-level expertise.

It is, however, a very different investment strategy to the typical French largesse or Wasps, who broke the bank to snap up the likes of Kurtley Beale.

The Chiefs’ status as reigning Premiership champs and leaders is proof that their strategy is working.

“They use their money in a slightly different way, but they still pump plenty of resources behind their team,” said Cullen.

“It’s not that they’re this ‘journeyman team’. That’s not what they are.

“They’ve a lot of very, very accomplished players, and you can go across different parts of their team as well, and they’ve that same level of depth. They’ve looked for players that will do what they want them to do.

“That’s why I say you’ve got to admire the way they’ve gone about their business. They’ve a very clear vision of what their game is, that’s what it appears certainly from the outside, and they pick players that fit that system.”

It’s only 10 years since Cullen returned to Dublin after a two-year stint with Leicester Tigers. Exeter were on nobody’s map back then, not in English rugby and certainly not when it came to the wider fraternity throughout Europe.

Yet the head coach goes into what is probably the pick of all the pool ties this weekend — between two unbeaten sides — with memories of their ultra-competitive pool meetings with the Chiefs back in 2012-13 all too fresh in his mind.

The Chiefs don’t play all that differently now to how they did then, they just have better players fulfilling the wishes of Baxter and a coaching staff more in tune with what they are doing and how they want to go about it.

It makes for a fascinating double-header with the second game down for decision on Saturday week at the Aviva Stadium: England v Ireland, Premiership v PRO14, and a side looking to scale Europe’s summit for the first time against one eager to revisit it.

Leinster make the journey well stocked. Eight of their starting XV has at least one Heineken Cup medal in their pockets and among the younger brigade who don’t are a couple of Lions and a large dose of Irish internationals.

Looking to add to that could be viewed as an inspiration or a burden.

“It’s more an inspiration,” said Rob Kearney. “If you have the taste of what success is you get really greedy after you win trophies.

“You want more and we understand — a few of us in the group and coaches — exactly what it takes to win in Europe. So that’s a real benefit in the group.

“Then you’ve got the younger guys who are so hungry and keen to be a part of what’s on the crest and making their own contribution to getting another star on the jersey. So there’s a really good mix there and we just keep building towards that week by week.”