Win over 14-man Connacht reminded Leo Cullen of Ireland v England
United Rugby Championship, The Sportsground, Galway 26/3/2022 Connacht vs Leinster. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen speaks to the media ahead of the game Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Tom Maher
Leinster coach Leo Cullen said that their win over Connacht was very similar to the Six Nations game between Ireland and France where the team which lost a player to a red card dug in ferociously and looked like they might defy the odds.
Connacht found themselves leading 50 minutes after centre Tom Daly was dismissed after less than three minutes, but Leinster took over and ran in six unanswered tries from there to the end to run out 45-8 winners at the Sportsground.
“It brings back memories to the Ireland-England game a couple of weeks ago,” said Cullen.
“It sort of has that galvanising effect on a team and Connacht were so committed and you wondered were they going to run out of juice?
“But we fed them so much life in the first-half by our inaccuracies, we were just missing lineouts, missing cleanouts and Connacht were by far the better team with 14 players after we went 7-0 in front.
“Our guys at half-time were a little bit shell-shocked but they got more composed, signalled the right things and then we got a bit more structure and composure and accuracy in everything that we did in the second-half, so credit to the guys, I thought they turned it around well.
“The bench came on and made a decent impact as well and we looked just a totally different team. I know there is a hill here at the Sportsground but it felt like a very steep hill based on the first and second-half performances! It was a far from perfect performance but there was a lot of learning in it for the group.” The win sets Leinster up nicely for their trip to Thomond Park next Saturday and a renewal of hostilities with Munster, but Cullen is just delighted to have another bonus point win in the bag as they head into the business end of the season.
“It certainly is a valuable five points. It’s very congested in the table and very competitive. It was a strange game so we were delighted to get the five points,” added Cullen.
Connacht coach Andy Friend had no issue with the decision by referee Chris Busby to send off centre Tom Daly for a high tackle on Ciaran Frawley after less than three minutes.
And while Connacht battled gamely at the Sportsground for the remainder of the opening half and actually led 8-7, they were blown away once one of the four Leinster players who will join them in the summer, David Hawkshaw, crossed after 53 minutes for one of six unanswered second-half tries in a 45-8 win.
“Leinster are a tough team to play with 15 men not 14,” said Friend. “I thought the first 40 we showed enormous courage and fight and intent but it caught up on us in the end.
“We said at half-time that we are going to need a really good last 40 and the 23 are going to come on and do something special but it wasn’t to be. We had too many turnovers and they went up another gear and were too good for us in the end.
“I said at half-time we need to look after the football but in the first four minutes we turned over two balls . You can’t compete at this level with 14 men if you are giving away such easy possessions.” Friend said that while he was obviously disappointed for Daly, there was no quibble with the red card.
“He has just apologised to the group in the shed there. It’s one of those things, I know there is not intent in that to hurt but at the same time you know you can’t hit shoulder off the head. It’s a red card, so get your knee on the ground and make sure you are not going to go in high.
“You are disappointed for him, you are disappointed he got himself in that position where that happens.
“I thought for the first-half we showed great intent and great endeavour and fought really hard and as an eternal optimist I thought we were laying down a marker but as history will tell us, we didn’t,” added Friend.
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