‘I would say this to his face’ – Ex-Ireland star discusses ‘friend’ Leo Cullen’s future as Champions Cup ‘cop-out’ slammed
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen and former Ireland star Luke Fitzgerald.
Former Ireland star Luke Fitzgerald is “stuck” when it comes to Leo Cullen’s future but was left immensely frustrated by the head coach’s Investec Champions Cup approach.
Leinster’s boss finds himself under immense pressure after yet again failing to deliver the Champions Cup title following a 41-19 hammering against Bordeaux-Begles.
It was their fifth successive defeat in the continental final and comfortably their biggest, with the previous four coming by much smaller margins.
Questions have therefore been raised as to whether Cullen should continue as the province’s head honcho given their consistent failures in the latter stages of the competition.
‘I see some Scott Robertson talk’
“I really don’t know, I’m really stuck on it,” Fitzgerald said on The Left Wing podcast when asked what he would do about Cullen. “I don’t know who’s available, I see some Scott Robertson talk and he was obviously unbelievable for a long period of time with the Crusaders.
“It was not a great job with New Zealand but maybe that’s an option.
“I don’t know if getting rid of Leo is the right thing but he’s tried to change everything else.”
Fitzgerald played alongside Cullen at Leinster for a number of years and regards him as a friend, but the former Ireland wing did not hold back over the head coach’s Champions Cup comments.
Cullen took aim at the media after their semi-final victory over Toulon, stating that reaching yet another showpiece is no mean feat, but Fitzgerald was left distinctly unimpressed by that attitude.
“The one thing I don’t like, and I would say this to Leo’s face, I never liked his party line about getting to finals, really hate that. It really feels like a cop-out,” he said.
“Whether he’s come up with that line or whether it’s someone in the communications team, that does not sit well with me and does not sit well with any of my former colleagues. I’m sure it doesn’t sit well with Leinster supporters either.
“You’ve got to be going to win, it’s win at all costs. To me it’s almost like a get-out for you, ‘oh we made it to the final, well done us’.
“You may as well go out in the group stages.
“There is a part of it which is true in terms of the consistency of being at the top table, that is true, but you have to say you’re incredibly disappointed to not win, and you’re only going to win – that’s got to be your barometer of success.
“You’re always going to be judged in Leinster on your medals and that’s the really harsh reality, and the harsh reality of top level sport. That has never sat really well with me.”
Cullen’s words impacted Leinster’s players
That approach from Cullen was taken into Champions Cup final itself where his body language and comments post-match suggested that he didn’t particularly care that they lost the final.
Fitzgerald didn’t believe that was necessarily the case and that inwardly the Leinster boss would have been devastated, but Cullen’s narrative ultimately had a negative impact on the players.
“Of course I sense the commiserations so I don’t want to be two-faced. That must have really hurt at the weekend, whatever the party line was or there were some kind of unusual interviews afterwards,” he added.
“That would have really hurt, Leo’s a winner. I know the guy so that’s why that line has never sat well with me.
“He should have said: ‘No, we’ve got to be honest here, we’re gutted’. Say the usual lines but that’s what you should be feeling.
“You should be really hurt, you shouldn’t be thinking, ‘oh, it’s great to get to the final’. You’re never going to win anything there.
“That would have seeped into the players’ mindset too.”
READ MORE: Leo Cullen claims Leinster ‘not a million miles away’ after Champions Cup final humiliation
