Leo Cullen: Leinster will be better for out-half juggling act

PERFECT TEN? Sam Prendergast and Ciaran Frawley of Leinster react after their side concede a try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ulster. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

To lose one starting out-half is unfortunate. To lose two? Well, that’s just rugby.

No-one would have been more put out than Ross Byrne when he went off injured during the first half of Leinster’s URC derby against Munster at the Aviva Stadium in late November. 

Johnny Sexton had been retired just over five weeks. This was supposed to be Byrne’s time.

Leo Cullen could have done without that same headache.

Byrne had been a pivotal member of the Leinster XV long before Sexton finished up, regularly starting key URC and Champions Cup games. Byrne is still out injured and isn’t expected back for January’s European games so Leinster have had to adapt on the fly.

A head injury to Harry Byrne in the win away to La Rochelle only complicated things further but the bottom line is that the province has found itself doling out ample game time at ten to players who might not have had it in a perfect world.

Harry Byrne has still started three times and made another appearance as a sub since his brother injured his arm against Munster and, injury aside, will likely be first choice against Stade Francais and Leicester Tigers later this month.

Ciaran Frawley, who came on for Ross against Munster and for Harry against La Rochelle, has also since started one game at ten, two at 15 and another at inside centre. Sam Prendergast was the pick against Ulster on New Year’s Day and came on against Sale last month.

Leinster have done pretty well through it all. The loss to Ulster was their first in ten games and only the second of the season to date and Leo Cullen is of a mind to look at the positives ingrained in all these games of musical chairs.

“Overall it has been positive because they have had time and experience,” said the Leinster head coach in the wake of that home defeat to the northern rivals. “Some of that is positive and some of it needs work but it is still experience.

“The group will be in a better place for the three lads having some pretty important minutes. We had been on a good run of winning games. It wasn’t always perfect and we probably came unstuck because we won a couple of tight games and now we’ve lost a tight game.” 

Coincidence or not, Leinster have been unable to make the most of their time in opposition 22s in the last few months with Cullen suggesting that rotation among the team at large and an unexplained level of impatience at key moments are chiefly to blame.

It was a failing that cost them dearly against Ulster when their three tries were poor reward for an overwhelming superiority in terms of both territory and possession but there were cracks on the defensive side of the ball with it.

Jacques Nienaber’s rush defence, learning on the fly right now and with wholesale personal changes from their win in Limerick to boot, was undone by some beautiful kicks in behind by Billy Burns which ked to all three of the away team’s tries.

“Any defensive system you have you would be able to pick holes in most and, for our guys, we are learning a new skill,” said Cullen. “We all knew it wasn’t going to be straightforward in terms of this evolution of the team and we had been on a decent run.

“We came unstuck [against Ulster] and there were reasons for that. I thought we put a lot of defensive pressure on Ulster which created a lot of opportunities for us but there are definitely a few fix-ups within that as well. As I said, a work in progress.”