Open-door policy working both ways for Cullen and Leinster

As he savours yet another trip on the Memory Lane that leads to Welford Road, the Leinster leader will cross paths with a familiar face in Geoff Parling 

WELCOME ADDITION: Rieko Ioane of Leinster, left, and Leinster head coach Leo Cullen after the Investec Champions Cup match between Leinster and Harlequins at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Twenty years have slipped past since Leo Cullen left Leinster for a stint at Leicester Tigers that would prove to be game-changing, not just for him as a player, but for his province when he imparted the lessons learned on his return home.

Friday’s pool engagement in Welford Road will be the fifth pairing of these two teams in the last five seasons, so there have been plenty of opportunities for him to wander down Memory Lane, and this week was no different.

He reminisced about supporters dashing for favoured terrace spots when the gates opened two hours before kick-off, and of a chance meeting with David Wallace just days ago that served as recall for a still annoying loss to Munster 18 years ago.

That was the day Ronan O’Gara, whose interview on the respective merits of the Celtic League and Premierships had just caused such a stir, won it with a late kick from just over halfway after Nigel Owens brought the penalty forward.

“Rog wasn't going to kick it from, whatever, 61 metres, but he kicked it from 51 metres and it went over,” said Cullen. “It was a brutal day.” 

Fonder memories were shared of some of the people in the East Midlands. Pat Howard, Richard Cockerill. Shane Jennings, who made the switch with him from Leinster. And Lewis Moody who recently announced a diagnosis for Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

“He was an amazing teammate. Tough beyond belief. He's going through something at the moment, but if you could share [a GoFundMe] link or anything possible, it would be much appreciated," added Cullen, with former Ireland teammate Geordan Murphy having launched a fundraiser for Moody.

“Listen, he is brilliant. He's such a great character. So positive as a teammate and a smile on his face every day, even when he had his injury challenges, even when I was there at that point, 20 years ago now.” 

Cullen is big on the rugby 'community' side of things.

Ollie Chessum spoke recently about how his tour with the British and Irish Lions made him rethink the hatred he had carried for Irish opponents. Cullen, when asked about that, turned the answer into a familiar ode to all things Leinster and its 12 constituent counties.

But he has never been just inward-focused. That spell at Leicester has been followed since by a sort of open-door policy which started when former All Black boss Graham Henry was invited in to critique his setup in the early days.

It has continued with a well-worn path of visitors into the club’s HQ in UCD. GAA, soccer, rugby league, AFL, other union types: people from all corners and all chapters have been welcomed in to look at what Leinster do and why.

That includes current Tigers head coach Geoff Parling who paid a visit just over a year ago when he was in town as part of Joe Schmidt’s Australian coaching team. Cullen had to chuckle at that one given the task ahead this week. No regrets, though.

“We were lucky with some of the visitors we had from other sports, rugby league teams, AFL teams. It's great. Kieran Hallett is one of our academy coaches, he would have coached with Geoff in Melbourne Rebels," explained Cullen.

“So you're learning all the time, trying to see what you can figure out from a few of the people that come in. There's always a bit of risk of them finding a little bit too much information about you, but we'll know a bit more around 10 o'clock on Friday night.” 

That last line was offered a joke, as was the suggestion that they might be “traitorous” by having GAA sides from the other provinces in to visit, but it is an outlook that works both ways.

Covid saw the province forge a strong relationship with the Crusaders. Wider links with New Zealand in general have resulted in the capture of of Jordie Barrett and, more recently, Rieko Ioane on short-term deals from the NZRU.

Leinster aren’t the only club operating in this manner. Munster, for instance, have had plenty of interested observers pass through their building at the University of Limerick and, as Cullen says, it’s not like they offer up ready-made templates for success.

“You’ve still got to be able to do the work. That’s the whole point. That’s the way I look at it. So it’s easy to know what the recipe is, but you’ve actually still got to go about doing the work to make it happen in the first place.”