Leinster looking to reset following Ulster shock

Head coach Leo Cullen admits Leinster’s home defeat to Ulster has forced them to reassess ahead of their clash with Connacht this weekend.

The Irish province have dominated domestically over the past few years and rarely lose at home, but they were stunned 20-10 by Dan McFarland’s men.

It was also their first loss in the inaugural United Rugby Championship campaign and Cullen has questioned whether his team brought the required intensity to the contest on Saturday.

Bringing an edge

“That’s the question for us. Everyone needs to ask that question of themselves,” he told reporters. “That’s not just the players, it’s coaches, backroom staff, everybody. You need to bring that edge to your performances. You need to question that all the time, after you win or after you lose.

“It needs to be there. At the end of the day we’re involved in a contact sport and it’s man against man in the contact area, so we need to make sure we’re up for that challenge.

“We certainly know Connacht will be up for it because you have to remember Connacht’s performance here last year (where Connacht won 35-24).

“We were probably a little bit off in terms of the intensity and then when we bring a bit of intensity we just lacked composure, so it’s trying to get that balance right is the big thing for us.”

Due to Covid and the issues that has presented for teams that are travelling to different countries, the URC has not got off to a good start.

Minds are therefore perhaps elsewhere for many people but Cullen insists that it is not an excuse when it comes to the actual matches.

“Yeah, and that’s the thing. It was our first derby of the season. Ulster felt that when they got beaten by Connacht already and even then Connacht had lost narrowly to Munster the week before that,” he added.

“Yeah, it’s a different type of game. A different type of game from internationals, definitely a different type of game from what we encountered in the first five rounds of the season.

“When you watch that Connacht-Ulster game and even the Munster-Connacht game there was definitely a better edge to those games. Yeah, we learned a pretty harsh lesson about that.”