'He'd be pretty motivated' - Leo Cullen expect Josh Murphy to test Leinster 

AERIAL BATTLE: Leinster head coach Leo Cullen expects a tough aerial battle against Connacht. Picture: ©INPHO/Andrew Conan

While his main focus is on the here and now, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen did take a trip down memory lane when he sat in front of the media at the province’s UCD base earlier this week.

Cullen has worked alongside a number of coaches since assuming the helm of the eastern province in 2015 and one of his longest collaborations during this period was with current Connacht supremo Stuart Lancaster.

The latter arrived at Leinster just under 12 months on from his stint as England boss coming to an end off the back of a disappointing World Cup campaign and in the immediate aftermath of then-Leinster assistant coach Kurt McQuilkin returning home to New Zealand in August 2016 for personal reasons.

Lancaster proceeded to enjoy a memorable seven-year spell as Leinster senior coach and ahead of their reunion at the Aviva Stadium this evening in the URC as opposition coaches (kick-off 5.30pm), Cullen outlined some of the circumstances that led to the Cumbrian joining forces with the eastern province.

“We'd been looking around ourselves anyway, just because we were a young coaching group at the time. The circumstances were very different than they are now. Even John Fogarty was with us. He and Girvan [Dempsey] had come through, they were coaching the academy at the time and Kurt was with us,” Cullen recalled.

“He was the more senior person of the group. He went back to New Zealand for family pieces. Stu came in and it was the timing of it. It all happened very quickly, because Kurt had started the pre-season with us and it literally happened over the course of a week, really. He had experience of being a head coach internationally.

“For me, I was only starting off at the time. It was very early days. It's just being around as a coach for that length of time. There’s a lot of things I didn't know back then. There's a lot of things I still don't know. I always think I'm dumber now than I was probably then! It's just time, isn't it?” 

In addition to working with players who were already established figures, Lancaster also coached a number of others at Leinster who came through the province’s Academy system and transferred into the senior set-up.

While he was only in his first year as part of the Academy back then, Charlie Tector did make seven senior appearances in the URC during the 2022/23 season – which proved to be Lancaster’s final one with Leinster.

Whereas all of the Wexford man’s outings in that debut campaign were off the bench at out-half, he has since gained a new lease of life by making inside centre his primary position.

After donning the number 12 jersey on six occasions in 2024/25, the current season has seen Tector starting at inside centre in URC victories over Zebre Parma and Ulster.

He also came on in midfield when Leinster recorded a 13-8 win over Munster in a festive affair at Thomond Park last Saturday and the former Kilkenny College student will form a centre partnership with Hugh Cooney against Connacht this evening.

Although their upcoming opponents have registered just two victories from seven games thus far under Lancaster in the URC, Tector is wary of the western province potentially hitting top form in tonight’s contest.

“I had him [Lancaster] for a year, a full year. He's a class coach. Everyone in the building knows it here. It's early days, it's the same as us. They [Connacht] are fighting for every point at this stage in the season,” Tector said.

“The Interpros are proper test matches. You're playing against lads that are fighting for that Irish jersey. That's what you want to fight for. There’s even lads from Leinster in those teams and you see how much it means to them then to play against Leinster again. So we have to be ready for that.” 

Despite the presence of the Connacht-bound Ciaran Frawley at full-back for Leinster, ex-Blues players Josh Murphy, David Hawkshaw and Ben Murphy being included in the match day 23 for the visitors should also add considerable spice to this fixture.

Another native of Wexford, Josh Murphy made 61 appearances for Leinster before moving west in 2022 and his former head coach Cullen anticipates he will add substantially to Connacht’s line-out threat from blindside flanker.

“He'd be pretty motivated. Knowing Josh, having coached Josh. He'll bring plenty to the contest, for sure. It's similar to the scrum. It's a big facet. I thought we set the tone well with a good line-out drive against Munster at the weekend,” Cullen added.

“Again, this week's a new week. It’s making sure we have a good plan. Connacht, they’ve some good aerial line-out operators. Probably the best way of putting it.”