Although Leinster selected a travelling party that emerged unscathed from four rounds of PCR tests and five rounds of antigen tests – not to mention the fact their French counterparts had their own Covid issues – Montpellier were handed maximum points from their scheduled pool stage showdown.

While EPCR have insisted the cancellation of games is a separate issue to the postponement of fixtures due to current travel restrictions between the UK and France, their board do have the capacity to review its tournament formats in the case of exceptional circumstances. It is this latter point that gives Cullen optimism that Leinster won’t be left at a disadvantage when it comes to ranking later on in the competition.

“EPCR needs to reshape the tournament anyway, because there’s so many games that need to be rescheduled now. Obviously there was no window to reschedule at the time of cancelling our game, whereas now the postponement route is what is likely,” Cullen remarked yesterday in a remote media briefing.

“You would hope that everyone would get a fair crack at playing the games because that’s what you want. You want the games to be decided on the pitch rather than decided by slight technicalities of when games get postponed or when games get cancelled. If there’s scope to play the games, you’d much rather play the games surely.”

Even though Cullen himself is still in self-isolation after recently testing positive for Covid-19, the Leinster squad trained yesterday at Energia Park ahead of their proposed United Rugby Championship clash with inter-provincial rivals Ulster in Belfast on Saturday (Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm).

Under the watchful eye of senior coach Stuart Lancaster, a number of players who have recovered from recent bouts with Covid were put through their paces.

Given the majority of them only experienced mild symptoms after contracting the virus, Cullen is confident they will be ready to take on Ulster – should the game go ahead as planned.

“Generally speaking, anyone that is coming back will have their full medical done. That’s the important piece and guys have all bounced back very, very strong because generally speaking it has been pretty mild in terms of symptoms.

“The guys have been well looked after and obviously some guys have been training away all the way through. Other guys have had some time off. Everyone is responding slightly differently to it all. Guys are, generally speaking, good to go now.”

Amongst those to take part in yesterday’s collective session was Jonathan Sexton, who has seemingly shaken off his recent knee and ankle troubles. With the latest edition of the Six Nations Championship getting underway in just over five weeks’ time, the return of the Ireland captain is a welcome sight for Andy Farrell as well as Cullen himself.

“That’s the good thing, in terms of fitness and availability. When we don’t play rugby it’s very good for your availability! We’ve only three or four guys on the injury list. In terms of availability and in terms of fitness injury-wise, we’re in pretty good shape,” Cullen said.