The head coach discusses the myths and realities of Leinster rugby, and explains the source of his drive, what he hopes to achieve and how he will know when it’s time for a change
As he prepares for another season battling for silverware, the fire still burns in Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. Photograph: Lorraine O'Sullivan/PA Wireperiodically scrolls through his phone looking for a photograph to illustrate a point that he’s making at the time. There’s one of his mum, Paula, during her showjumping career, clearing a fence in the RDS arena in 1966.
To understand Cullen’s drive and energy, one that can see him head for the office at 6am and return home at 10pm, when family circumstances permit, it’s important to delve into his upbringing in Newtownmountkennedy. “I probably hung outside a stable as a baby, watched someone else mucking out until I was old enough to hold a pitchfork. My mum’s ‘child labour camp’ is what we used to call it,” he says with a smile. “We were very lucky.” He enjoyed time spent with his father – Frank set up Cullen Communications, which his other son, Owen, now runs – on the morning and evening car commute, aged eight to 18, to and from Williamstown.
“There are lots of parts of Leinster that the nation wouldn’t be that fond of. And sometimes people like to poke fun at that. There was a particular period where we experienced that to a strong extent and there were lots of labels and tags put on that.” “What worries me? I am worried about the people that we want to represent. It’s important that we try to make the people proud of our work, that pride in the work that we deliver. We work hard to make sure players that come into the system, we set them up to succeed so they go on to be internationals.
“When I look out at the paddocks they the memories I have of our current group of players. There is magic in that. You have kids that come to the games, whose families are season ticket holders, that go on to be Leinster players 10 or 12 years later.” At various points, the conversation returned to Leinster’s identity. Who are they? Who do they want to be? Who do they represent? The timbre of his voice rises slightly, his passion for the topic bubbling to the surface.
“I know that for a fact, I have heard people talking about us. You want them to give us grudging respect because I respect competition, I respect rivalries and it’s a great thing to have.” “There is a big percentage, over half, playing in Japan. Why are they in Japan? Pure monetary reasons, that’s an economic reality. We are not really in the market for the top-end marquee players.” Let those words settle. So, Leinster, while far from poor, aren’t the alpha rich that they are portrayed to be.
“People have to be able to bring in their real true strengths, what’s real about themselves to the party, whether that’s a player or coach, any member of the backroom team. You want to have great people, not a load of arseholes in the buildingThere is an internal pressure that I live and die by. The external pressure is not something that I .”
He argues that it is that preparation process that dictates who plays, “coaches just fill in the team sheet”. The outhalf conundrum is the single biggest external debating point since Jonny Sexton’s retirement. And it will continue to be until Leinster win silverware again.
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