Leo Cullen: Champions Cup format stops teams from being 'compromised'

Ross Byrne and Scott Penny during a Leinster Rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium. Picture:Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

It has served him and the province well in the past, but Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is more than content with the move away from a six-game pool stage format at the top level of European club rugby.

A four-time winner of the competition as a player or coach, Cullen and his troops will kick-start their latest Heineken Champions Cup campaign against Bath this afternoon (Aviva Stadium, 3.15pm). A trip to Montpellier will follow next Friday, before Leinster face the same two sides on consecutive weekends in January.