Leo Cullen slammed for Irish coaching ‘slavishness’ as ex-Leinster fly-half hits out at ‘repeat error’ in Champions Cup finals
Leinster taking on Bordeaux-Begles in the Champions Cup and former fly-half Andy Dunne.
Former Leinster fly-half Andy Dunne insists that coaching in Ireland needs to change otherwise they will continue to lose big games.
An Irish side succumbed in yet another big game on Saturday as Leo Cullen’s men went down 41-19 to Bordeaux-Begles in the Investec Champions Cup final.
That followed Ulster’s heavy 59-26 defeat to Montpellier in the Challenge Cup showpiece event, who are led by Richie Murphy, in what has been a poor weekend for the provinces.
Also seen at Test level
With the national team failing to get beyond the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, Dunne insists that the coaches unwillingness to move with the times is holding them back.
“To me, there’s a rigidity in Irish coaching, a slavishness to say: ‘We will always work hard, we’ll always play possession football, we’ll always hold possession and more often than not we will be successful’,” he told Off The Ball.
“We will against the Dragons and the Scarlets when no one’s watching in the URC but when it comes to knockout rugby it’s like everyone else has worked out that less possession, better kicking, disciplined defence, a good lineout, a good scrum is generally enough.
“We keep doggedly going out, trying harder and we don’t need to. We’ve actually got the raw materials and we just need to think better.”
Leinster have now lost five Champions Cup finals in a row under Cullen, leaving them without a continental title since 2018 when they defeated Racing 92 in Bilbao.
They were outplayed and, according to Dunne, outthought by Bordeaux-Begles who, despite playing some thrilling rugby, were also adaptable and sensible with how they approached the contest.
“People coming away from that game will remember the flair of Bordeaux and the breakaway speed and tries, but they kicked the ball 30 per cent more than Leinster – that’s a simple stat,” he said.
“Jalibert kicked it almost every time he got it in the second half.”
Leo Cullen claims Leinster ‘not a million miles away’ after Champions Cup final humiliation
Take the points
Dunne was also angered by Leinster’s insistence to go for the try earlier in the game when a simple three points was often on offer.
“Floyd Mayweather springs to mind, the great boxer, the undefeated boxer. He was never the biggest hitter in his division, he wasn’t the biggest physically, he certainly wasn’t the most powerful, but he was tactically the best and he never got beaten,” he added.
“He avoided getting hit. Leinster were shooting themselves in the foot on repeat, individual unforced errors.
“The pattern that really grated with me was the refusal to take a kick at goal. If you’re going to do that with the immediate history in cup finals for Leinster, and you’re going to opt for the lineout, they didn’t get a single jumper off the deck and lost the lineout, and the game changed.
“You could see the momentum shift. Bordeaux held them out, the cameras went to the Bordeaux management on their feet, it panned around the stadium, every supporter was on their feet.
“As opposed to just knocking the kick over, running back, conserving energy, putting points on the board in knockout rugby. That’s a repeat error in cup finals by the same group. That puzzles me.”
