LEINSTER MAY HAVE picked up their first try bonus point of the season in winning away in Edinburgh, but Leo Cullen, the head coach, has warned the players they will have to step up their standards and cannot afford another second-half fall-off when they face the Ospreys this week.
He is, however, confident that after giving his core Ireland internationals up front a good run in Scotland, they will be in better shape to take on the Welsh. “To score four tries in the first half is pretty pleasing. With so many guys coming in for their first games, there was always going to be a little bit of fatigue in the second half,” he said.
“We probably did not manage the game particularly well at the start of the second half, and all credit to Edinburgh, they came back strongly. It was just a bit frustrating that we could not kick on, particularly with them being down to 14 men at the start of the second half.
“It is just a case of bringing those guys up to speed. It can be challenging when they are coming back in the third round and some of those Edinburgh guys had played three or four games.”
The fact is that when Leinster were in charge they looked ready to blow a disappointing Edinburgh side off the park, finding huge holes in the home defence for Daniel Leavy, Garry Ringrose, Isa Nacewa and Jamison Gibson-Park to cross for tries that settled the result.
On the downside, the way they let the Edinburgh pack dictate the game after the break must concern Cullen who knows the Ospreys are in a different class to Edinburgh and will bring a lot more threats in attack, with the Scots butchering a number of scoring chances.
“There is a pretty good chance the Ospreys will be sitting top of the table when they come to Dublin and they have some more of their big-name players still to come back into the mix,” Cullen said. “They have a pretty good record over the years at the RDS so they will be confident.”
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He’s not as disappointed as some on relation to how far off they are? They are miles off. No offence to Munster but they are an average,though very gutsy and committed side,and they have hammers Leinster twice in a row now. I do agree that they haven’t had any continuity with combinations,especially from 9-13,and hopefully when the likes of OBrien, Healy, Moore, Teo, McFadden etc come back then there will be a big improvement.
I must take the opportunity to praise Matt O’Connor for the huge improvement in Guinness Pro12 teams. Ever since he arrived at Leinster, every other team has greatly improved. Teams, that two years ago were almost brushed aside by Leinster, have now reached the heights that Leinster once inhabited alone.
Treviso have improved, Munster have improved, Edinburgh have improved, Scarlets have improved, Dragons have improved, Zebra have improved, Connacht (brilliant tonight, by the way) have improved..
In fact, they have all improved so much that Leinster has great difficulty taking on any of them.
By extension, Wasps and Harlequins have shown just how brilliant they are too due to you Matt.
I can hardly wait to see how much Castres get better when they arrive at the RDS soon. They will build statues in your image all over the town.
Matt, you have done European rugby a great service. They have all reached and surpassed Leinster this season thanks to your input at Leinster and everywhere else.
Thank you Matt and Happy New year!.
(and also to Mr Caputo, the news paper seller. Your influence on all other teams has been exceptional)