RUGBY
Cullen steps into Leinster hot seat
By Daire Walsh
ALTHOUGH it was news that was widely-anticipated, the announcement last week by Leinster Rugby that Leo Cullen was to permanently assume the position of head coach in the province garnered a considerable degree of attention.
The former Blues captain has been appointed on a two-year contract, and having been drafted in as forwards coach by his predecessor Matt O’Connor following his retirement as a player in May 2014, Cullen will be the first Irish man to take on this role since Declan Kidney’s brief tenure more than 10 years ago.
Since then, two Australians (Michael Cheika and O’Connor) and one New Zealander (Joe Schmidt) have held the reins at Leinster, and with a grand total of seven major trophies won during that period, it is easy to see why the province’s supporters have become accustomed to success.
Even though it was an offer that was too good to turn down, it is undoubtedly a difficult time for Cullen to be stepping into the breach. The forthcoming Rugby World Cup will rob the ex-second row of several of his prized assets, and with Kane Douglas also returning to his native Australia in recent months, Leinster’s resources will be severely stretched in the opening weeks of the upcoming campaign.
With so many players expected to be marked absent, predicting how the early stages of the Guinness Pro12 season will develop for Leinster is almost impossible, but the 2015/16 season could prove to be a landmark term for a number of fringe players within the Leinster set-up.
When you cast your mind back to the personnel that they had at their disposal this time four years ago, it will offer plenty of motivation to those who are aiming to move up the pecking order.
In their final game before the return of their 14-strong World Cup representation (which included Cullen himself), Leinster overcame Connacht on a scoreline of 30-20 in the RDS. From the team that started that game, Luke Fitzgerald, Dave Kearney, Ian Madigan, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner and Rhys Ruddock are all in contention for a place in Joe Schmidt’s final squad for the World Cup, as is powerful prop Jack McGrath, who was an unused replacement for that encounter.
Current Leinster lock Mike McCarthy was on the Connacht side that day, and even though Leinster did suffer defeats at the hands of Ospreys and Glasgow Warriors during the World Cup period in 2011, four wins from six was a welcome return for Schmidt as he began his second season in charge of the Blues.
However, while there may well be concerns for Cullen from a player point of view, the make-up of his coaching staff may take some time to fully develop. Kurt McQuilkin has returned to the role of Defence Coach, and former hooker John Fogarty has taken Marco Caputo’s place as Scrum Coach, but for the time being, Girvan Dempsey will be double-jobbing as Backs Coach and Academy Director.
Richie Murphy will remain in his role as Skills & Kicking Coach, but he has the same position in Schmidt’s international set-up, and will be unavailable to Cullen for the duration of Ireland’s World Cup campaign.
Of course, while it is interesting to hear Cullen’s thoughts on his new job, it is also important to see the appointment from the perspective of the players.
Because of his involvement with Racing Metro in the past two seasons, Jonathan Sexton didn’t experience what Cullen was like as a Forwards Coach, but he is backing him to be a success as Leinster supremo.
“Special people do special things and he’s been an outstanding leader for Leinster,” Sexton remarked last Wednesday.
“He was always the voice that people went to in the set-up, when I was there anyway. I haven’t really gotten into it with the guys too much, but it was always Joe’s voice first and foremost when I was there and then not too far behind was Leo’s and at times Leo was able to tell Joe how he saw things and Joe took it on board.”