Latest news with #LeoCullen
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Felipe Contepomi on Leinster success, Johnny Sexton's coaching and ‘unlucky' Sam Prendergast
Felipe Contepomi alighted on familiar touchstones, gently directed to matters Leinster , Leo Cullen , Johnny Sexton , Sam Prendergast and Irish rugby during a press conference to announce the Argentina team for Friday night's Test match against the Lions at the Aviva Stadium (8pm). While it would be overstating matters a tad to suggest that it's a game between two scratch sides, Argentina are without a host of the French-based players including Toulouse trio Juan Cruz Malliá, Santiago Chocobares and Efrain Elias, Bordeaux's Guido Petti and Facundo Bosch, along with Rodrigo Bruni, Matteo Carreras, Bautista Delguy, Marcus Kremer and Facundo Isa to highlight another half-dozen absentees. Centre Justo Piccardo will make his debut while three of the bench share those circumstances. but for the Irish media contingent Contepomi's thoughts on a number of parochial matters superseded any chat about Friday night's game. Leinster's head coach Cullen rocked up to the Pumas training on Tuesday, a chance to catch up for the former team-mates and friends, who worked with the province in a coaching capacity too. Contepomi would still have skin in the game emotionally when it comes to Leinster. READ MORE He pushed back a little when it was suggested that the URC title win at Croke Park ended a four-year cycle of disappointment. 'Yeah, well, depending on how you see the disappointment, you know, playing finals, every season, I don't see it as a disappointing season. 'Maybe it's a disappointing day, you know, when you lose a final, but the season probably, it's a good season. I feel lucky Leo came yesterday to our training, so I caught up with him. I still keep in contact with him, and I'm delighted for Leinster. 'To get that silverware, more so to because they were the best team throughout the season and I think they were the best team last year [too], but they didn't win it. It's good to have silverware. Some players who contributed a lot are leaving, it's very good for them to leave with a medal.' Contepomi was asked about two Leinster outhalves, Prendergast the incumbent in the 10 jersey, and his predecessor, Sexton, who has taken up a coaching role with the Lions and will fulfil a similar role with Ireland later in the year. 'I think Sam was lurking around in the academy before I left. I could see his talent coming through, I didn't have to be a rugby brain to detect that he was a talented player. I think he's very talented. It's probably debatable and [he's] probably unlucky to have to miss out [on] the Lions, but he's a very young player and he will have a lot of opportunities. Leinster outhalf Sam Prendergast missed out on the Lions tour. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 'The Lions from what I recall, they never finished with the same [number of players], whatever 40 something players they have, they never finished the tour with the same [number] who started. So, you need to be ready and I'm sure he's on the fringe of that. So, I don't know, I'm just assuming, right? I don't have inside information.' So was Contepomi surprised that Sexton has grabbed a whistle and tracksuit so quickly after bringing his playing career to an end? The Argentinian smiled: 'I don't know if surprised, I'm delighted. I think he needed to go into rugby. 'He has a good rugby brain, a very good rugby brain and I'm sure that he will have very good mentors there. He knows [Andy] Farrell, he knows a lot of the staff, and I'm sure that he will get the most out of that experience. 'I think Irish rugby has improved massively in the last 20 years. They have got a really good balance on developing young players and having the home talent. 'Obviously, they could have a few talents from abroad like Lowey [James Lowe], [Jamison] Gibson-Park and Bundee [Aki], they have bought into the Irish culture very well. I think Ireland has been doing the right things on and off the pitch.' Friday night's game poses a series of questions for the respective head coaches but it's one that Contepomi is happy to embrace. 'In in our case we haven't been together for seven months and getting together in two training sessions with a lot of new faces. It's been a challenge, but the guys have been magnificent. 'They made a lot of effort to grab all that new information. There was a good adaptation. We will see in the game, but we are very pleased with how they adapted to the first week in terms of the newcomers. 'In terms of preparing a game against a team that you don't know what they will fire [at us], for us it is very good because we need to focus on us. It's been good to really focus on what we want to do, how we want to do it, for them to start understanding the habits that we want to instil in our group.' ARGENTINA: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgró, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomás Albornoz, Gonzalo García; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi; Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo; Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo. Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi , Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simón Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Badly-needed trophy helps Leinster's healing process
A four-year gap without a trophy is considered normal for most teams. For a team with the resources and home-grown talent that Leinster have, it's considered a failure if they don't come home with a trophy every year. Saturday's dominant victory over the Bulls in the BKT URC final to earn their first silverware since 2021 was relief for all those associated with the province. Despite the improving standard of the domestic league, leaving Croke Park with the trophy felt almost non-negotiable. There were a few things that stood on the day. Leinster's defence was totally dominant. They missed some tackles around the 30-minute mark which started a brief purple patch for the visitors. However, Leinster were already 19-0 up and the Bulls were always going to enjoy a period of possession. Regardless of a couple of slipped tackles, the hosts were ferocious in defence and clearly wanted to lay down a marker. Their goal line defence was miserly, conceding just one try from a maul in the second half. The men in blue were hungry for work and eager for collisions. The Bulls are a physical team, and would have welcomed the wet weather conditions in Dublin. I'm sure they considered the poor conditions to be a leveller, yet Leo Cullen's side grew taller with every tackle that they made. With no plan B, the Bulls ran into the Leinster pack repeatedly without gaining any momentum. Within the Leinster pack, the usual performers stood up. James Ryan was responsible for a number of dominant tackles, yet it was Thomas Clarkson who caught my eye. He had a burning desire to ensure Leinster's success and drove standards around the pitch. He backed up Joe McCarthy in a mild scuffle while contributing massively to a scrum performance that gave as good as it got. If anything, the scrum weakness was on Andrew Porter's side, who struggled at times to deal with Wilco Louw. Clarkson hit everything that moved and generally stepped up with a really mature performance in the absence of Tadhg Furlong. Ryan Baird won the player of the match award, though a number of Leinster's pack could have received the accolade. Baird has gone from an athletic back-row with positive moments to a physical animal with many more involvements. Saturday's victory was a culmination of his improvements over the season. Luke McGrath showed how good he is in a rare opportunity following Jamison Gibson-Park's late withdrawal. McGrath has been an unbelievable servant for Leinster, patient with his contributions since Gibson Park's ownership of the scrum-half position. He gelled seamlessly with Sam Prendergast throughout the game, providing clarity and balance in their kicking game. His standout moment was a clever kick over a ruck which Jordie Barrett controlled beautifully to race Tommy O'Brien to the try line for Leinster's second try. 14 points in as many minutes set Leinster up for a first half performance that would see them control the game, with McGrath playing a huge part in that. Leinster's kicking game wasn't limited to the half-backs, with Barrett and Jimmy O' Brien contributing nicely too. However, Prendergast had his best performance in a while for Leinster. His kicking game was massively responsible for their territorial advantage. Prendergast's superpower is his right foot, as seen by a sweet connection straight from a scrum to earn a 50:22. Referee Andrea Piardi even called a penalty in the scrum, not realising that the out-half had the distance to regain possession in a better position on the other side of the pitch. The Bulls did little to put Leinster under pressure. Out-half Johan Goosen and full-back Willie Le Roux were off form and as a team they looked overawed by Leinster's energy. If the Bulls performed better, Leinster may have regretted the points they left behind in the third quarter. A 22-metre attack that should have ended in a try was knocked on by RG Snyman and a kickable penalty was miscued. However, not to discredit Leinster, they were the reason why the Bulls attack was stifled. When it came to a final in those conditions, Leinster got their strategy right. They won the kicking battle and were far more physical than the Bulls. Both of those factors in the game will go a long way to victory. Leinster's stats in the last few rounds have shown that they kicked the ball more often, while retaining more possession from kicks. They also improved their penalty count, reducing their average from 11 penalties per game through 17 rounds, to just 7 penalties thereafter. Their set-piece percentage improved, ruck success improved to near perfect and their 22-metre entries also went up. Funnily enough, their average tries scored was reduced but that is expected as you get into knockout rugby, compared to some of the high scoring league games they've been involved in. Stats don't show you the team selection, individual moments or other factors within the game. However, with most of Leinster's metrics improving, it's no surprise that they dominated the URC final, as we all expected them to. That's the type of performance in a final that will take the pressure off the players, Leo Cullen and the club in general. The Champions Cup anguish lives on, but putting silverware in the cabinet will help the healing process and Leinster can now sign off on a relatively successful season.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Owen Doyle: Rugby players seem to think they can interrogate referees. It needs to stop
'If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same . . .' At some stage in our lives, many of us have found inspiration and comfort in Rudyard Kipling's wondrous poem, If. Maybe Leo Cullen has too. Leinster have had their fair measure of disasters over the last few years, with nothing to show on the triumph side of the balance sheet. Losing finals and semi-finals by small margins has been bitter medicine. Not to mention the penalty try that went missing in the Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton . Through all of this, Cullen has remained calm, dignified, not once trying to lay the blame at the door of any match official. Not publicly anyway. It's doubtful I was alone in forecasting that the trophy would be heading south of the equator. Unusually, it's quite a pleasure to have been proved wrong . READ MORE It wasn't just a win, it was a performance of the highest quality where everything clicked. The normally powerful Bulls had no answer . The coach of the San Francisco 49ers, the great Bill Walsh, entitled his leadership book The Score Takes Care of Itself. That's precisely what happened. Now here's a key question. Can the scrum spoil the Lions series? The short answer is yes, but there are a few relevant reasons that might provide a glimmer of hope. We have seen too many top-class matches badly impacted by illegal scrummaging, including the URC final and, for good measure, the English Premiership final. However, Lions coach Andy Farrell and Australia counterpart Joe Schmidt both favour positive play, with Farrell's men likely having the stronger scrum. So, for example, on the Lions put-in, let's hope the intention will be to play the ball away, not to try and pulverise the opposition to win a penalty. On Australian ball, legitimate disruptive actions, including pushing straight, should be ordained. World Rugby elite referee manager, Joel Jutge, is bound to have had discussions with the two coaches with a view to working out an agreed scrummaging modus operandi. Failing that, the appointed referees can help the situation, as well as themselves, by being stronger with scrum decisions. 'This is not what we agreed before the game,' said referee Andrea Piardi as he reset yet another scrum during the URC final. If it isn't what was agreed, by all means tell them, but don't omit a necessary accompanying sanction. Later on, with only eight minutes left, he was still appealing for good behaviour. Otherwise, Piardi had a good match. None of his decisions affected anything very much, certainly not the clear-cut result. It was not the dog-eat-dog fight that had been widely anticipated. It was also important that there was no controversy; there has been far too much of it during the season. There have been some poor refereeing performances for long enough and it is a dreadful blot on the URC landscape. The clubs should be up on the rooftops, shouting 'enough'. Leinster's Jack Conan speaks to referee Andrea Piardi during the URC final against Bulls. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Piardi is not alone in bringing trouble to his own doorstep by having long conversations with players who are all too keen to disagree with decisions. Players, not just the captains, are constantly appealing, even though they know perfectly well why the call has been made. It's happening far too much and getting worse. Referees are being subjected to interrogations, with players also pointing to real or imagined offences by their opponents. It will be interesting to see how this stuff is handled in the Lions series. Piardi will referee the second Lions test – the first Italian to do so. Molte congratulazioni. He will have an uncomfortable time if he allows players to be consistently in his ear. Piardi must keep his chat to concise, precise explanations and not be drawn into debates. Referees should only deal with the captain. It is clear that match officials have overdone their desire to be seen as the players' understanding friend. That approach is now backfiring. Then there is the TMO. How will that operate on the Lions tour? The Premiership final saw it reach new levels of interruption. The TMO, Ian Tempest, cooked up a different storm by bringing several, very marginal issues to Karl Dickson's attention. These took an age to conclude and could just as easily have been decided the other way around. Referee Karl Dickson points towards Dan Cole of Leicester Tigers before issuing a yellow card during the Premiership final. Photograph:One of these was farcical. The question was whether or not Leicester's Nicky Smith, on the ground under his own posts, had deliberately handled the ball. Solomon was needed to apply his wisdom to this one, but not so easy for a mere referee. Dickson took a long time to find in favour of Smith. Tempest also asked the referee to take a look at Dan Cole thumping late into Russell and the resulting yellow card raised another debate. Cole's coach, Michael Cheika, was livid. The wise referee rule-of-thumb, that only the clear and obvious should be sanctioned, must also apply to TMO intrusions. Otherwise, silence please. Then there is the intolerance of coaches towards match officials' mistakes. If there is a fingertip knock-on in the build up to a vital try, which is only seen afterwards, then the affected team's coach will blow an almighty fuse; we see it often enough. What a pity that rugby's Corinthian spirit has long since left the building.
Irish Post
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Post
Leinster thrash the Bulls to secure URC title
LEINSTER won their first United Rugby Championship (URC) title in four years with a 32–7 win against the Bulls in Saturday's final at Croke Park. Despite the Irish rain making an appearance, a record crowd of 46,127 came out to see Leinster dominate the South African opposition. The match saw Leinster take an early lead, scoring three tries within the first 22 minutes. Captain Jack Conan, Jordie Barrett, and flanker Josh van der Flier were the try-scorers, showcasing the team's forward dominance. By halftime, Leinster had a 22–0 lead, leaving the Bulls with little opportunity to mount a serious comeback. Scrum-half Fintan Gunne, the only uncapped player in the match-day squad, added a late try to seal the victory and cap a superb team performance. Also despite missing several star players, including Tadhg Furlong, Hugo Keenan, and Jamison Gibson-Park, Leinster fielded a team rich in international experience. Nine of their starters are heading to Australia with Ireland's summer touring squad, and another eight are set for upcoming tests against Georgia and Portugal. Speaking after the match, Bulls head coach Jake White acknowledged the disparity in squad strength, saying, 'It was like Ireland versus the Bulls.' He noted that while Leinster could bring on players like RG Snyman, the Bulls finished the match with eight non-internationals. Although Gibson-Park was withdrawn pre-match due to a minor leg issue and James Ryan limped off early in the second half, head coach Leo Cullen reassured fans, stating, 'It's nothing serious. Both should be fine for the Lions.' With the Lions and Ireland tours set to begin within a week, Leinster's internationals now shift focus to the summer stage. Cullen expressed pride in their progress: 'A big part of our mission is developing players, and we're proud of how many are stepping up to the next level.' This victory not only ends Leinster's recent title drought but also reaffirms their position among Europe's most elite rugby clubs. See More: Bulls, Croke Park, Leinster, Leo Cullen, Rugby, URC
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'Keep the abuse coming, we don't mind' - Leo Cullen and Leinster embracing the 'outside noise'
In the last two games of Leinster's BKT United Rugby Championship title success, there's been a temperature change. Leo Cullen's side played with a hard-nosed belligerence in their semi-final win against Glasgow, and that meanness was ramped up further in Saturday's emphatic grand final win against the Bulls. One of the great weekly press conference cliches is that teams don't listen to what they call the "outside noise", and focus only on themselves. These last few weeks have been decent proof that the outside noise is there to be heard. After the semi-final victory against Glasgow, Joe McCarthy and Jack Conan's comments made it clear this Leinster group had started to use the criticism of their recent performances as fuel. If this is how they play when they feel slighted, maybe they should lean into it more often. If McCarthy's words are true, and so many people hate his team, why not embrace being the villain? "Keep the abuse coming, we don't mind. Thick skins," Leo Cullen (below) said at Croke Park on Saturday evening, after the 32-7 win against the Bulls. Having suffered three final defeats and four semi-final defeats since their last trophy in 2021, Saturday's final against the Bulls was billed as one Leinster simply could not afford to lose, given their abundance of Irish international talent, not to mention their trio of world class foreign imports. And although the squad had looked weighed down by the pressure to deliver in the weeks following their Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton, they looked a team reborn in their final two outings. "The guys are delighted there in the dressing room. It's just enjoying the occasion now. I'm talking to some of the Bulls guys there at the end and they just watched the trophy lift, that's what I tried to get across yesterday [about the feeling of losing]. "They are the two best teams in the competition, we've lost in different ways, at the death, after extra time, you've just got to keep putting ourselves in that position and keep pushing the boundaries of what we do, you get criticism when you lose, it still doesn't take away what - personally speaking - I love doing. "Pressure is great, it's part and parcel of sport. It's a great way to feel alive, we're lucky to be involved in it." On Saturday, they bullied the South Africans in multiple ways across the 80 minutes. The opening quarter was played at a frenzied pace which the Bulls couldn't sustain, and Jake White's side could hardly touch the ball. By the 27th minute Leinster had scored 19 points, and the Bulls had registered just 13 carries. After dominating them with the ball in that first 27 minutes, they then spent the next 13 dominating them without it. The Bulls launched two big attacks on the Leinster 22 before half time, the first ending with a limp crossfield kick from Willie le Roux falling into the hands of Sam Prendergast, and the second finished with a forward pass – again by Le Roux – after the Bulls had gone backwards 15 metres over the length of 15 phases. As clinical as the three tries in the opening quarter were, those defensive stands epitomised everything that was good about Leinster on Saturday, and Jack Conan says that energy and aggression was inspired by the words of their opposition head coach, Jake White. "They came out with a lot of stuff in the media during the week about 'it's Ireland versus the Bulls'," the Leinster captain said. "So we said, 'Right, let's not disappoint them, let's be at our best, let's give them Irish rugby' and I thought we did that. "It was incredibly tough, I was wrecked running in at half time. "The lads were unbelievable physically, lads shooting out of the line, whacking people. We spoke about wanting to make every tackle with a bit of intent, every set piece to lay down a marker and I thought the lads did that in spades. "If they got in there [for a try], it's probably a different game and then you come out in the second half and you're under a little bit of pressure, so the lads were brilliant. "You've got to love that, you've got to love those physical moments, the lift that it gives you, and says so much about where we are mentally, you know. "It was brilliant, it was a huge lift, it was nice to get 15 minutes at half time so you could properly recuperate because lads were fairly shagged after that." As has been the tradition for Leinster, Conan was joined for the trophy lift by one of the departing crew of players, with Cian Healy dragged up to share the honours in his final act as a Leinster player. The loosehead, who has now won 18 trophies in his 18-year career for Leinster and Ireland, will retire after next week's Barbarians v South Africa clash at Twickenham, and Conan says it meant a lot to share that moment with him. "For Cian, who is probably Leinster's greatest ever servant, for everything he's done. "He would hate that, I said it to him before: 'I want you to do this, I know you will say no, but please come up and lift the trophy'. "It's only fitting that someone like that, who has given their all and has done incredibly well over the years, gets his final moment with the trophy. "I'm glad he said yes because I really thought he would fight me on it. He's not one for the limelight, he doesn't want the attention.
