Leo Cullen: Allowing Munster back into game was 'frustrating'

James Lowe scores Leinster's third try yesterday. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Leo Cullen will demand his Leinster players keep improving after extending their winning streak to 22 victories this season following Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 restart triumph over Munster.

The defending champions face another potential six games in their 2019-20 campaign at the end of which could bring a second league and European double in three seasons and they had the luxury of gearing up for both the PRO14 and Heineken Champions Cup knockout stages next month not needing a win behind closed doors at Aviva Stadium last night.

A home league semi-final awaited them regardless of the outcome last night and they rebounded from the concession of an early Munster try from Andrew Conway to take a 24-13 lead on 51 minutes thanks to tries from Cian Healy, Garry Ringrose and James Lowe.

Yet though they allowed their oldest rivals back into the contest when Keith Earls and Conway again scored tries in the final quarter as replacement lock Devin Toner spent 10 minutes in the sin bin, Leinster’s defences held out and the Heineken Champions Cup final loss to Saracens in May 2019 remained their most recent defeat.

"It's great when you get yourself into that defensive set there at the end to defend well and not give up a penalty, and then a pressure game and put Munster back in their corner at the end, so that is pleasing that last few minutes of the game, but frustrating that we got ourselves in that situation,” Cullen said.

"It's a win, we didn't need to win the game today but still it's always nice to get it and it just keeps the momentum going.

Andrew Conway scores Munster's third try despite the attention of Caelan Doris, left, and Seán Cronin yesterday. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

"We'll still have to pull apart the performance because there were some aspects of it that weren't at the level that we'd like them to be at. So that has to be our focus now for the next few days in terms of an analytical point of view, for the players to focus on leading into Ulster next week and the semi-finals the week after then.

"You don't want to be playing in any semi-final or any big game and getting yourself in a good position, and then leaving it that tight at the end because then you're relying on a number of different variables.

"But I think we were in control of the game, in theory, at 50 minutes, but couldn't quite kick on from there.” 

Cullen said playing in a near-empty Aviva with no supporters was an unusual experience first time around and a game leveller for home and away teams.

"The players create a sense of noise and the momentum shifts in the game are slightly different.

"Normally if you've got a very vocal home crowd and the home team get in the ascendancy you can sometimes see the away team shrinking into their shells a little bit. Here there's no real advantage for either team."