Leo Cullen on Leinster's Bilbao backlash: 'Why would I have any interest in a troll?'
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen before the United Rugby Championship quarter-final match versus the Lions at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
A 49-point win. Nine tries. A place in a URC semi-final. James Lowe becoming Leinster’s record try-scorer. Run your eye carelessly over this game, and just this game, and Saturday night was more than alright for Leo Cullen and his province.
Zoom out and it’s still a more nuanced story.
The Lions were expected to be a tough proposition but they were abject. Lowe’s two late tries, his 70th and 71st for the province, came against the backdrop of the player probably leaving this summer when him, the club and Andy Farrell would prefer him to stay.
And all this was played out in front of just 9,493 people at the Aviva Stadium. That’s an awful number for Leinster. It’s more than 3,000 down on the same quarter-final stage last year and after which Cullen felt obliged to launch a public appeal for more support.
There was no such rousing of the masses this time from the head coach who took the line that the club is just deeply appreciative of those who turn out, but the attendance is indicative of the hangover from their Champions Cup final defeat.
There is disillusionment in the air. Cullen himself has admitted to an ongoing “grieving cycle” within the camp despite this win and warned that they have responded to previous European disappointments with wins followed by another costly loss.
There is an understanding that they are not out of the woods yet, and the general discourse around the team, and whether he himself feels under pressure, led to a fascinating and awkward eight-minute back-and-forth with one reporter after this game.
Cullen took exception to a perfectly valid question asking whether he felt under some pressure after a fifth Champions Cup final loss in eight years. The word ‘backlash’ in particular seemed to trigger a calm but insistent response.
He, not for the first time, lamented the negativity and toxicity of social media, and then laid out straight the boom and bust nature of winning and losing in elite professional sport, particularly at the pointy end of a season.
“So that's the business that we're in, isn't it? So, do I find the pressure of that? But that's what I do for a living. So, I love it. So, do I feel under pressure? No, I absolutely love it. What do you think?” Cullen has consistently looked to reframe Leinster’s losing run in finals. He spoke again here of the fact that they are the only URC side to reach a Champions Cup decider since 2012 and insisted they would pick themselves up and go again next time.
The pressure, he said, is a positive one, even if winning a URC quarter-final cannot “repair” that loss the week before. And there was an obvious disdain for any of the discourse that might be proliferating online.
“Why would I have any interest in a troll? Why would I have interest in a troll? Because that's what they do. That's what trolls want. They want to agitate. That's the way I understand social media anyway. I could be wrong.
“Hence I don't go on it because I'm just like, ‘what am I going to actually gain from it?’ I'm not trying to market myself for my individual brand and get my followers up. That's just a choice that I would make.”
It’s notable that so much of the conversation around Leinster, at a time when their performances and results on the pitch are such a talking point, continues to circle around wider issues far from the heat of battle.
Sam Prendergast was recalled to the No.10 jersey here and gave a sublime display of out-half play with the hands and with the boot, even if it was against a limited opponent, but the talk then turned to his presence earlier this season in the coach’s box.
Leinster have done this regularly with players not involved in a matchday squad but Cullen has heard criticisms of that too and professed himself bemused by them here. The Lowe situation is another topic that raises a bigger question.
Reports suggest that a contract could not be agreed between the various parties and with Leinster now due to pay 40% of salaries to those players on central IRFU contracts, as opposed to 30%, that is going to have inevitable financial consequences.
It was put to Cullen that maybe some don’t appreciate that impact.
“Well, it's sort of been well documented, isn't it? So it's not really... Is it for me to talk about this here? Yeah, but of course it'll have an effect, because it's a decent chunk, yeah. But that's the thing in terms of investment, pathways.”
All that aside, there is a URC semi-final to prep for this coming weekend. Leinster, as Cullen pointed out, are the last Irish team standing. The pressure, whether positive or negative, isn’t dissipating any time soon.
: H Keenan; J O’Brien, R Ioane, J Osborne, J Lowe; S Prendergast, K McGrath; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Clarkson; J McCarthy, J Ryan; M Deegan, S Penny, C Doris.
Replacements: J van der Flier for Doris and G McCarthy for Sheehan (both 53); D Mangan for Ryan (54); R Slimani for Clarkson and A Usanov for Porter (both 56); J Gibson-Park for McGrath and H Byrne for Keenan (both 63); R Henshaw for McCarthy (66).
: Q Horn; A Davids, H van Wyk, R Kriel, E Cronje; C Smith, N Steyn; SJ Kotze, PJ Botha, S Lombard; R Nothnagel, D Landsberg; S Mahashe, B Hlekani, F Horn.
Replacements: R Jonker for Cronje (11-22 and for van Wyk (59); RF Schoeman for Lombard (46); F Marais for Botha (48): E Davids for Kotze and S Qoma for Landsberg (both 53); H Pead for Steyn (54); R Delport for Hlekani (59); JC Pretorious for F Horn (63).
: S Grove-White (SRU).
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