With Marseille wounds still fresh, Cullen calls on Leinster to bounce back
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has insisted there won’t be any lack of motivation within his squad ahead of this afternoon’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final clash with Glasgow Warriors at the RDS (kick-off 3.15pm).
The Blues’ principle focus in recent weeks had been on securing a fifth European star, before Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle put paid to this quest in the Champions Cup decider at Marseille last weekend. The majority of the Leinster set-up have accumulated multiple league titles under Cullen’s watch – winning four consecutive Pro14 crowns before it was rebranded as the URC – but the elevation of some fresh blood to their first-team ranks ensures the drive for domestic success remains intact.
“Some guys haven’t experienced a huge amount of success and they’re desperate for it. Joe McCarthy as an example. A young player who has come into the team. He only made his debut during the Six Nations window and there he is coming off the bench in a Champions Cup final. Here he is starting in a quarter-final,” Cullen explained.
“There’s lots of those sub-plots within a team. The drive is there, strong as ever. If anything, after the weekend, it’s stronger. This week has been about trying to learn some harsh enough lessons from the game. Improve as a group and move forward.”
While the Leinster starting line-up for today’s game shows seven changes from the one that lost out to La Rochelle, Cullen confirmed yesterday that a number of these are enforced. It was revealed at the beginning of the week that Ronan Kelleher would be unavailable because of the shoulder injury that forced him off 14 minutes into the Champions Cup final, but team captain Jonathan Sexton also misses out with his ankle issue preventing him from training this week.
Dan Sheehan and Ross Byrne take their places at hooker and out-half, respectively, with Limerick native Sean Cronin and Byrne’s brother Harry providing cover in these positions on the bench. Hugo Keenan and James Lowe are also ruled out of contention with knocks, which means that Jordan Larmour and Rory O’Loughlin will join Jimmy O’Brien in the back-three.
It is hoped that at least some of this quartet will be available for a potential home semi-final next weekend, but Cullen is wary of planning too far ahead.
“We’ll see how the weekend goes. You’ve got to win the game first to be in the semi-final, as we know! Glasgow are a good team. A niggly type of team as well. It’s making sure we’re in the right headspace for the game because it’s a great challenge. Hopefully we have a big crowd to cheer the guys on as well,” Cullen added.
Lining up alongside the aforementioned McCarthy in the second-row, James Ryan will captain the eastern province in the absence of Sexton. Ciaran Frawley and Ryan Baird have been given the nod ahead of Robbie Henshaw and Jack Conan, though the latter duo are included amongst the replacements.
J O’Brien; J Larmour, G Ringrose, C Frawley, R O’Loughlin; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, C Doris.
S Cronin, C Healy, M Ala’alatoa, R Molony, J Conan, L McGrath, H Byrne, R Henshaw.
O Smith; J McKay, S Tuipulotu, S Johnson, R McLean; R Thompson, A Price; J Bhatti, G Turner, Z Fagerson; R Harley, R Gray; R Wilson, G Brown, J Dempsey.
F Brown, O Kebble, S Berghan, L Bean, K McDonald, T Gordon, G Horne, D Miotti.