Routing of La Rochelle a huge vindication for Leinster coach Leo Cullen’s selection strategy
Leo Cullen: his selection last Saturday was entirely vindicated – not least pairing Jason Jenkins with Joe McCarthy in a robust second-row to counter the Will Skelton-Ultan Dillane axis. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Cullen gave vent to his irritation at his Friday press conference with references to a “Cork bandwagon” behind La Rochelle with Donal Lenihan even being name-checked for providing the French club with Cork Con’s Temple Hill as a training base.Cullen was laughing as he said this, if less so when lamenting that all of Ireland were not supporting Leinster given they were the last provincial team standing in the competition.
Some of the nastiness that developed on the terraces and the stands has, thankfully, abated over recent years. Most rival supporters enjoy a good-natured rivalry in person, whatever about the anonymous contributions on, eh, social media. Such is life. Which begs the following thought. Suppose the shoe was on the other foot, that Munster had been the dominant Irish force for the last 15 seasons, winning four Champions Cups while Leinster kept coming up short.
Also, Leinster were within one knock-on of closing out that semi-final against Munster, in which case there wouldn’t even have been a discussion about his selection.
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