HE MAY HAVE seen his side recording their second consecutive win at the RDS on Saturday, but Leo Cullen has admitted Leinster are proving to be “a little up and down” in the early weeks of the new United Rugby Championship season.

Following a 34-13 bonus point triumph over The Sharks at the same venue seven days earlier, Leinster were seeking a similar result against Edinburgh in Ballsbridge at the weekend.

Thanks to tries from Lee Barron, Max Deegan, Ciaran Frawley, Tommy O’Brien and James Culhane, they were in the driving seat by the hour mark in their duel with the Scottish outfit.

Yet with Connor Boyle and Boan Venter adding to an earlier five-pointer from fellow replacement James Lang, Edinburgh were just nine points adrift (36-27) by the end of the contest.

In stark contrast to his coaching counterpart Sean Everitt – who included 11 members of Scotland’s World Cup squad in his match day 23 on Saturday – Cullen is working with a fringe selection at the present moment. This has led to performances that have been far from perfect in the opening three rounds of their URC campaign – they began the term with an away defeat to Glasgow Warriors – but the Wicklow man still took plenty of positives from a victory that sees them occupying sixth spot in the table.

“I thought it was a bit patchy really. A lot of good intent and endeavour and all that, which is good, but we’ve still a long way to go. In terms of the set-piece battle specifically, they [Edinburgh] have a pretty experienced pack that’s out there,” the Leinster head coach remarked after Saturday’s game.

“From the depth point of view, at least there are some guys within that who are putting their hands up for bigger games down the line. The big thing is trying to win the games and trying to accumulate points really. We managed to do that, so that’s pleasing.

“Parts of today were a step up on last week and parts I thought we took a bit of a step back as well. We’re a little up and down at the moment, which we’d probably expect from the type of group that we have at the moment. There’s that bit of learning, particularly for some of the younger guys.”

While the 17 Leinster players that were in Ireland’s squad at the Rugby World Cup were once again absent against Edinburgh, this won’t be the case for long. Although he acknowledged that their reintegration to the provincial system is being handled on a case-by-case basis, Cullen revealed that some of that international contingent will be back in the fold for Sunday’s URC encounter with Dragons at Rodney Parade.

“Some of that Irish crew came back and trained last week. They had two weeks off and I suppose they’re into their third week and they’re scratching themselves thinking ‘what do I do!?’ Some of them I’ve literally seen in the dressing room [after Saturday’s game] for the first time. Again, they’re making their way back now,” Cullen added.

“Some guys I’ve talked to over the phone. Next week they’ve done three weeks then, so some of those guys will then play next week and some will just get through a bit of training. Again, case-by-case to see what they’re like.

“Now it’s going to get competitive, isn’t it? We had 17 guys at the World Cup. If you think there is 17 you’re trying to throw into that mix there, then there’s a bit of a squeeze on now.”

Meanwhile, Cullen also said that he doesn’t yet have a specific date for the arrival of Jacques Nienaber to the province as senior coach, but expects the South African will be assuming his Leinster duties “in a few weeks”.

Daire Walsh