‘It’s just about keeping the foot down’ – Leinster chief happy with Cullen extension
It was widely reported a number of weeks ago that Leo Cullen set to stay in his current position and Leinster Rugby CEO Shane Nolan has acknowledged he is pleased to tie his head coach to another two-year deal at the eastern province.
Whereas the Wicklow native largely operated under rolling one-year contracts across the opening eight seasons he was in charge of the team, Nolan offered him an extended deal in the spring of 2023 that would run to the end of the current campaign.
Nolan felt getting Cullen to sign a longer contract would bring stability to the province and that is why he was so keen to get him on board for another two-year deal that Leinster announced earlier today will run up until 2027.
“When I came into this role [in November 2022], Leo had been on a series of one-year contracts. That would have been a bit of a pattern and at the time I just felt that, in terms of stability and what the club needed at the time, two years was just a much better solution for everybody really.”
“We’re in the middle of contract negotiation season at the moment with players etc, they all ask for the coach. It’s more continuing that practice.”
While today’s announcement confirms that Cullen is set to remain as head coach beyond the current term, there will still be pressure on the former Ireland international to deliver fresh silverware to the Leinster trophy cabinet in the coming months – following three consecutive seasons without success in either the United Rugby Championship or the European Champions Cup.
The initial signs are positive for Leinster in 2024-25 with the Blues currently holding a six-point lead over defending champions Glasgow Warriors at the summit of the URC after accumulating 29 points out of a possible 30 across their six games to date in the competition.
We won’t know until next May and June if this strong start will have proven to be the catalyst for a successful season, but Nolan is encouraged by what he has seen to date.
“We had a board meeting this morning, we gave him a bit of a hard time over dropping one point out of 30! We’re very happy with the start. If you had asked us, after six matches, would we be happy with 29 points? We absolutely would have bitten your hand off,” Nolan added.
“Because if you recall we had a bit of a juggling act in terms of players coming back from the South Africa tour [with Ireland]. We had to introduce them in and [we had] to balance that with new players coming in.
“Every season we have a bit of a balancing act after a summer tour. Delighted obviously to get the strong start and it’s just about keeping the foot down now. That’s the main thing and make sure we see it through all the way.”