Good evening everyone, you’re very welcome along to what promises to be a thrilling night of Champions League action as Tottenham prepare to face Ajax in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
Tottenham versus Ajax. Now let’s be honest here, who on earth could have predicted this? Both sides have caused massive upsets to passage into the final four, with neither having reached the decider in well over two decades when a Louis van Gaal-led Ajax last won this famous competition in 1995.
Spurs have never won Europe’s highest honour before, with today’s matchup just the second time in the club’s history to play in a European Cup semi-final — last time out they came up short 4-3 against a Eusebio-inspired Benfica in 1963.
Today’s game is so exciting because it seems so out of the ordinary. Tottenham, granted, have appeared in the Champions League for the last three seasons, but have never passaged further than the quarter-finals before today.
Ajax, meanwhile, always caricatured as a fallen giant of the European game, have rolled back the years. Erik ten Hag’s youthful, vibrant, attacking side are reminiscent of days of old under Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels all those decades ago.
Spurs overcame Manchester City in the most dramatic of circumstances a fortnight ago, with Raheem Sterling’s goal ruled out by VAR in the 95th minute without any doubt one of the most dramatic moments in modern football.
Ajax, on the other hand, put mighty Juventus to the sword last time out, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates with egg on their face as the Serie A champions’ quest for a first European title since 1996 continues for another year.
Both sides fully merit their place in today’s semi-final, but surely no-one could have predicted Tottenham against Ajax at the start of the season.
Don’t forget, Ajax had to passage through the qualifying rounds to reach this season’s Champions League. Incredibly, their journey to tonight’s game in London began against Austrian outfit SK Sturm Graz last July, nine months ago.
It promises to be a dramatic night of football ahead. Stick with us for the ride, kick-off is coming up in just over an hour’s time at 8.00pm. Today’s game is live on RTÉ 2, Virgin Media Sport and BT Sport 2 if you’re near a TV.
#THFC: Lloris (C), Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Wanyama, Rose, Eriksen, Dele, Lucas, Llorente.@WilliamHill odds (18+) https://t.co/UTGkpi6vxV#UCL ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/Z5KPWVoYqD
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 30, 2019
All names! 👥#UCL #totaja pic.twitter.com/j7LYFrU7NH
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) April 30, 2019
TEAM NEWS: Mauricio Pochettino has a significantly depleted squad for tonight’s semi-final, with Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Harry Winks and Erik Lamela all ruled out.
The Spurs boss makes two changes from the side which fell 4-3 to Man City at the Etihad but went through on away goals. Davinson Sanchez comes in to replace Sissoko, while goalscoring hero in Manchester last time around Fernando Llorente replaces Son up front.
Ajax were given the weekend off by the Dutch FA and come into tonight’s away leg with four league wins in a row, as they seek a historic treble this season. Manager Erik ten Hag makes no changes from his side’s 1-1 draw in Turin against Juventus two weeks ago.
Tottenham: Lloris, Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Wanyama, Eriksen, Alli, Lucas Moura, Llorente.
Substitutes: Gazzaniga, Foyth, Walker-Peters, Davies, Dier, Skipp, Sissoko.
Ajax: Onana, Veltman, de Ligt, van de Beek, Neres, Tadic, Blind, Schone, de Jong, Ziyech, Tagliafico.
Substitutes Varela, Sinkgraven, Huntelaar, Mazraoui, Magallan, Dolberg, de Wit.
#SuitedByBOSS for the semi-finals.#UCL ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/e1NKELgJf2
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 30, 2019
Not long to go before kick-off, about 45 minutes until action gets underway at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (it badly needs a catchier name). Who’s going to come out on top tonight? Let us know below.
Poll Results:
Some pre-game reading material:
- Pochettino goes full Buzz Lightyear ahead of ‘dream’ Champions League semi
- ‘Move on’ – Pochettino acknowledges ‘tough’ duel with West Ham, insists focus is now on Ajax
- X-ray shows no broken bones but Tottenham striker Parrott set to miss Ireland’s U17 Euro finals
- ‘It’s not fair’ – Pochettino envies Ajax’s Champions League semi-final preparation
The panel on Pochettino's complaints about Ajax's 'unfair advantage' of a week off ahead of tonight's semi-final pic.twitter.com/HVxOmG0GdJ
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) April 30, 2019
The teams are making their way out onto the pitch as the Tottenham fans make themselves known with a sing-song. Kick-off is just moments away now. A cracking atmosphere for what promises to be a cracking game.
KICK-OFF: We’re underway at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first half!
What you would call a “pacey” start to this game as both sides fly the ball up and down the pitch. Plenty of energy about the place, Ajax well rested after their weekend off from domestic affairs while Spurs must battle on after a deflating defeat to West Ham.
First chance for either side as Donny van de Beek finds his way into the box in a dangerous position. He tries to send a cross into the area, but Davinson Sanchez does well to block the ball out for a corner kick.
The corner is booted clear at the first hurdle and falls to van de Beek again, but the midfielder absolutely slices his shot and it flies comfortably over Hugo Lloris’ crossbar.
A strong start inside the opening few minutes from the visitors here. Erik ten Hag’s side are dominating in midfield and are causing Eriksen and Wanyama quite a bit of trouble trying to get a foothold of the ball.
Almost an opening chance for Spurs down the other end. A sloppy piece of defending sees Dele Alli win the ball high up the field. He tried to pick out the Fernando Llorente in behind enemy lines, but the Spaniard just wasn’t switched on and failed to make the required run in time.
Ten minutes on the clock. Both sides still trying to figure one another out here, but Ajax are looking very confident early doors, demonstrating the same intensity and high pressure which was so successfully catching Real Madrid and Juventus off guard.
Hakim Ziyech latches onto the ball after a neat passage of combination play. He surges through into space, but Victor Wanyama does really well to cover up ground and dispossess the young Ajax forward when he was picking up speed. Great defending.
Danger now, as George Hamilton would say. The ball falls to Ziyech again on the edge of the box and he lines up a curling effort on his left boot. Hugo Lloris braces for impact but is not called into action as former Ajax man Jan Vertonghen provides a crucial block.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM 0-1 AJAX (VAN DE BEEK 15)
Ajax take the lead! Another brilliant passage of passing play sees Ziyech pick out Donny van de Beek inside the box with a killer through ball low along the ground. The midfielder is narrowly onside — with buckets of space and plenty of time he picks out Lloris’ bottom corner with a close-range finish.
There was absolutely no-0ne near van de Beek there as he carefully picked his spot. It looked like Spurs might have been trying to play an offside trap, but they were really caught wanting there. A massive setback early on for the Londoners.
Ajax are full of confidence now and are hunting for a second right away. Danny Rose is flagged up for a foul, Ziyech crosses in the resulting free-kick, but his cross is headed wide for a corner by Sanchez. The visitors applying so much pressure right now.
Another chance for Ajax. Ziyech’s corner picks out David Neres unmarked on the edge of the box, but his sliced, left-footed shot is blocked by the back of Jan Vertonghen closing down space.
Tottenham try to find a response after a sustained period of Ajax dominance. Christian Eriksen ventures forward through midfield and tries to loft a crossfield ball to meet the run of Llorente, but Barcelona-bound Frenkie de Jong recovers well and heads the ball clear.
Chance! It really should have been 2-0. A superb one-two between Ziyech and van de Beek sees the goalscorer clean through on goal. It was a tricky angle for van de Beek and his shot is saved well by Lloris coming off his line. In fact, he might have been better crossing that actually.
Close! Two great chances in as many minutes. This time it’s Tottenham firing at the other end. A Tripper free-kick swung dangerously into the box finds Llorente completely free with the goal at his mercy. The ball is slightly too high for the forward through, and he cannot steer the ball on target to try and test Andre Onana between the sticks.
Spurs have responded in the last few minutes trying to find an equaliser but Erik ten Hag’s men are still very much in control of this affair. The hosts are depleted of so many of their star men, particularly missing Kane and Son up front, and are struggling to gather any kind of pace or cutting edge in attack.
Two Tottenham bodies down inside the Ajax box now. Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld both seemed to collide with Ajax goalkeeper Onana as he tried to punch a cross clear. The medics are on and it seems Vertonghen’s face has been cut open as blood streams down his face.
There’s a pause in play now as Vertonghen receives attention from the Tottenham doctors. It seems like the Belgium international’s nose has been busted with that collision inside the box.
The defender’s jersey is splattered with blood and he goes off to receive further attention as Spurs go down to 10 men temporarily. It was a nasty clash Vertonghen took there, but thankfully he is able to get back to his feet and walk off of his own accord to be assessed and possibly get a new shirt.
There may be an issue of concussion with Vertonghen. The defender returned to play for a brief few moments but seems to be signalling to the Spurs bench that he is not okay to go on. He is replaced by Moussa Sissoko off the bench.
Mauricio Pochettino forced into an early switch in this game, a goal down and now losing one of his key defenders. There will be at least seven or eight minutes of stoppage time added on at the end of the first half.
Tottenham starting to get a bit more of a foothold on the game now, pushing bodies higher up the pitch in the hope of finding Eriksen, Alli and Llorente in attacking positions.
A really good chance for Ajax against the run of play. David Neres sprints free on goal and looks like potentially having a one on one with Hugo Lloris. His first touch is quite poor though and that gives Davinson Sanchez the chance to get back and gather possession. Really great defending when it was needed by the Colombian.
There will be five minutes of stoppage time to come at the end of the first half.
Spurs prodding and probing looking for that equaliser. Danny Rose ventures forward and wins a throw, the subsequent ball into the box causes quite a bit of panic for Matthijs de Ligt and Daley Blind — but Fernando Llorente can’t get the ball down to strike on goal.
Close! A chance right at the end of the first half for Tottenham. Toby Alderweireld peels away and meets Christian Eriksen’s floated free-kick. The defender lofts an excellent header which looks like nestling into the top corner, but it comes down over the crossbar instead of under it.
HALF-TIME: TOTTENHAM 0-1 AJAX
We’re a quarter of the way there in this Champions League semi-final tie.
Ajax lead at the break in London thanks to Donny van de Beek’s well-taken finish from close range after an excellent passage of passing play with just 15 minutes on the clock.
There has been plenty of lovely passing play from Ajax so far, with Erik ten Hag’s side once again demonstrating supreme confidence and ability with and without the ball.
The Dutch league leaders have enjoyed 58% possession and have carved out six shots compared to Spurs’ four so far. Mauricio Pochettino’s side have had decent chances to level, but look a little bit stiff without Harry Kane and Son Heung-min up front.
The injury suffered by Jan Vertonghen will surely be a major talking point, too, as he looked to have potentially suffered concussion.
The Belgium international was part of a serious collision involving team-mate Alderweireld and Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana.
His face was covered in blood, however Vertonghen was let back on before being brought back off again after signalling to the bench that he wasn’t okay.
More to action to come very shortly!
⚪️ Will Tottenham recover in the second half?#UCL pic.twitter.com/RmaSoEkuVu
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 30, 2019
SECOND-HALF: We’re back underway for another 45 minutes.
Chance for Tottenham right away in the second half. Fernando Llorente provides some exceptional skill to keep the ball away from two defenders inside the box, volleying the ball to himself left and right — only for his shot to be blocked and cleared.
Ajax fly down the other end as the second half begins at a furious pace. Tagliafico carves out a chance as Spurs back-peddle in defence, but the forward drags his shot wide from distance.
Another opportunity for Tottenham, who are looking significantly more confident in attack now. Lucas Moura heads the ball down where Dele Alli is free, but his powerful volley is well saved by Onana on his line.
A rapid counter-attack from the visitors down the other end. Some poor defending from Alderweireld allows Ziyech through down the right. He crosses into the box, but the ball is sent right back to him. Spurs get enough bodies back to cover, though, and Davinson Sanchez eventually slides the ball clear. A real moment of panic there.
Alli is close again. Much, much better build-up play from the hosts as Lucas Moura finds Kieran Trippier, who in turn crosses into the box for Alli. He rises highest and meets the ball with a firm connection, but the England midfielder’s effort flies the wrong side of the crossbar.
A sustained period of pressure from Tottenham now. Christian Eriksen toys with his opponents and tries to nick a through ball towards Moura, but de Ligt is on hand to head the ball to safety. Ajax hanging on at the moment.
Half an hour remaining after a barnstorming start to the second half. Ajax still maintain that 1-0 lead, but the confidence and ease of passing which they enjoyed all throughout the first half has subsided. Neres, Tadic and Ziyech are becoming a little bit isolated up top as things stand.
Lucas Moura with another header, but it loops high into the air and is comfortably caught by goalkeeper Onana. Meanwhile Joel Veltman picks up a yellow card after being penalised for pulling out of Dele Alli.
Some brilliant, brilliant defending from Moussa Sissoko there. Ajax managed to carve out a rare attack in this second half with David Neres twisting and turning down the right wing. Sissoko tracks all the way back from midfield and outmuscles the winger with strength and composure before winning a free-kick.
More good work from Sissoko sets Moura free racing at a back-peddling Ajax defence. Moura zips free and his a handful of options to pass to, but Nicolas Tagliafico manages to close down the space and nick the ball away. Moura should have done a bit better there and maybe should have released the ball earlier to a team-mate.
Great goalkeeping from Onana there. Sissoko sends a magnificent crossfield ball towards the run of Danny Rose who is entirely free on his own sprinting into the box. It’s a one on one battle to reach the ball first between Onana and Rose, and the Ajax shot-stopper wins.
A hairy moment for Spurs. Dusan Tadic miraculously finds the ball at his feet right in front of goal. He dodges past one challenge and then another, but his low right-footed shot is blocked down by Toby Alderweireld crucially.
Close! Danny Rose is doing really well in attack. He latches onto Christian Eriksen’s pass inside the box, but the England defender’s low shot is blocked away by Joel Veltman at the last minute.
Off the post! David Neres almost doubles Ajax’s lead as the end of the second half approaches. The Brazilian smashes the bottom of Hugo Lloris’ post after an excellent run from team-mate Ziyech on the opposite wing. Neres struck low as Lloris stood flat-footed, but his shot bounces back out to Spurs’ relief.
A late set of changes from Mauricio Pochettino as Welsh international Ben Davies replaces Danny Rose off the bench. Juan Foyth is also on for the final few minutes, replacing Kieran Trippier at right back.
Another header for Spurs, but no breakthrough. Toby Alderweireld rises high and meets a cross in the air, but the ball comes off a combination of his head and shoulder before looping over the Ajax crossbar. Frustration starting to build.
Five minutes to go in London as Tottenham still chase an equaliser. Pochettino’s men have enjoyed the upper hand ever since the interval, but just haven’t been able to be clinical and take their chances.
A second change from Erik ten Hag as Klaas Jan Huntelaar comes on to replace Hakim Ziyech off the bench. The Dutch striker is 35-years-old these days, but he honestly doesn’t look a day over 27.
There will be three minutes of stoppage time to come at the end of the second half.
Lucas Moura with a volley on the edge of the box. He latches onto the ball from Fernando Llorente’s knock-down, but the Brazilian spins his effort well wide. It just doesn’t seem to be Tottenham’s night with a couple of minutes left to go.
FULL-TIME: TOTTENHAM 0-1 AJAX
It’s all over! Ajax secure another famous European result on the road as Donny van de Beek’s well-taken goal after 15 minutes is enough to give the Dutch league leaders the lead in the tie and a crucial away goal.
The visitors looked supremely confident and impressive throughout the first half, but were forced to dig deep under pressure after the break as Spurs went in search of a decisive equaliser which never materialised.
Erik ten Hag’s men have one foot in this year’s final in Madrid, but Tottenham will come back swinging in Amsterdam with the return of Son Heung-min from suspension and potentially Harry Kane too.
Thanks a million for joining us this evening — you can read our full match report from tonight’s game here and you can also check out Paul Fennessey’s player ratings here too. Cya!
⏰ RESULT ⏰
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 30, 2019
ℹ️ Ajax claim impressive first-leg victory at Tottenham
⚽️ First-half Donny van de Beek goal secures away win
🤔 Who was the star man tonight?#UCL pic.twitter.com/2Wyj2NFw0g
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A big decision to hand the reins over to a guy who’s never held a head coach role, only coached for a year, and the bulk of current players trained alongside him less than two years ago. Hopefully doesn’t backfire.
This will all end in tears.
Wish Leo all the best. Journalists and pundits go on about Leinster fans demanding entertaining rugby but I never heard one fan demand that. What Leinster fans did demand was a competent head coach with a clear gameplan and players able to perform basic skis well. This didn’t happen under MOC. It was clear the players were confused going onto the pitch and subsequently they made basic errors. Leo can’t be any worse than MOC. Nevertheless that’s a fair bit of bull#%t from Mick Dawson about Leo being the best candidate. Leinster were turned down by other candidates and Leo was the last man standing. Let’s hope he’s a Franz Beckenbauer and not a Steve Staunton.
Have faith – he’s made of the right stuff.
will leo be used as the escape goat for all the best players heading to France., yes.
Mick Dawson claims all the stakeholders were considered, so basically he doesn’t consider the Leinster supporters as a stake holder in the clubs future.
We have suffered for the last two seasons and deserved a coach with at least a spark or a buzz about him.
Brian O’Driscoll always say he learned so much from joe about the game and that was coming from one of the worlds best players at the time. How many Leinster backs will come away from Leo’s reign and say the same.
The common sense deal was a one year deal and extend it if the first year goes well.
If this was a one year deal I’d have a real good feeling about this season.
Saying all that I truly hope that Leo proves me wrong and that no matter what we can’t be as bad as last year.
Added to that I’m delighted kurt is back full time.
You expect Leinster Rugby to consult the fans when deciding a new head coach do you?
It’d certainly be a novel approach from a pro sports team.
Will this decision prolong the like of boss reddan Darcy etc ( the old men and best mates brigade) and stunt even more the progress of youth? Or will Leo be clever enough to realise that he really had a free shot this season to really have a go and bring players through.
No I don’t but Dawson comes out with this bull that all the major stakeholders were consulted and their views taken on board.
Robson, does this mean you’re finished trolling the Munster articles and have moved onto the Leinster ones? Well, we welcome you with open arms……that are locked and loaded.
Paul Sheehan’s tears
Escape goat…. Ha!
Does anyone know of another professional sports team who has a coach and mascot with the same name?
They were, Leinster fans aren’t ‘major stakeholders’ in the decision process to choose a new head coach.
I wish him well, but I also remember what ROG said about one of the reasons he went coaching in France was because he didn’t feel that as a coach that he would have had the necessary separation from the players who he had previously played with. It’s not going to be easy to move from being one of the lads to telling them what to do and he’ll be doing it in a much higher pressure environment than the average workplace.
Best of luck to him, good to see Irish coaches get their opportunity
Really interested to see how Dempsey does with the backs, always seemed to have the Leinster A team playing entertaining rugby which he can hopefully bring back to Leinster.
Best of luck Leo.
Hopefully he’s given a fair shot without too much bull from fans and media.
Could not have been handed a harder challenge in his first season in charge.Majority of the squad off to the world cup and a horrendous ERCC pool. Wish him well. Hopefully the media and some of the fan’s will have realistic expectations and give him some slack if results don’t go his way this year.
Great to see Irish coaches in Irish jobs!
win win, Leinster get a cheap head coach, Cullen gets an extra €50 a week on top of his dole
Where’s Joan Bruton to announce Jobsbridge latest roll.
Matt O Connor knew how to defend but not much else. I fear that will continue under Leo’s reign but we’ll wait & see. It is what it is now anyway, so let’s be true supporters and get behind him the players. COYBIG
And you boys in blue too! Oops! (World cup on the brain…) :-D
Jimmy Matt didn’t know how to defend. If you looked at Leinster last year there were at least 10 games that we were winning going into the last quarter and we ended up either losing or drawing.
It’s just not true that he knew how to defend.
You never mentioned your disapproval with MOC once last season Chris why now?
Ps.joke
James I wanted to give moc an extension of another two years, purely to brighten up our country cousins but mick Dawson wanted to put a dampener on that.
Moc the best coach we ever had
Matter of opinion I s’pose. When MOC took over, we lost our attacking prowess and never got it back. And we couldn’t build up a lead or hold one on the rare occasion we did. That’s why we couldn’t finish off games or losing it in the last quarter. Anyhoo, that’s in the past, onwards & upwards with Leo.
A Leinster man through and through and will be a great head coach. Best of luck to him and his squad.
Re rookie coaches: When Franz Beckenbauer was appointed coach of the German soccer team in 1984 he not not only didn’t have any coaching experience, he didn’t even have a coaching licence. So according to the rules, he should have never been given the job. Two years later under Beckenbauer Germany reach the WC semifinals; 1990 they win it. Leo Cullen is similarly an exceptional talent. According to Bernard Jackman his forte is man management and leadership. They are the most important abilities a head coache must have. The technical stuff Girve, Richie Murphy, John Fogarty and Kurt McQuilkin can take care of. Best of luck to Leinster’s new coaching “regime”. Arise and follow Leo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For every franz Beckenbauer there’s a Steve “I’m the gaffer” staunton.
A one year deal to be extended should have been issued.
We have suffered for the past two seasons and a gamble such as this if it goes belly up will mean at least 4 seasons of regression.
I am going to get behind Leo after I calm down and build on the positives ( and there are loads ) but I don’t think a 2 year gamble at this stage is the Crieff decision.
Keep it positive, Chris!!!
Let me get over the shock Riocard. I’ll get behind Leo soon enough.
Maith fear! COYBIB!!!
Lonestar I’d like to think I had something to do with it but I’m afraid his inability to do the job he was paid for was why he got sacked.
jaysus the negativity is dumbfounding. he’s been in a supporting role for a yr, he can see what the issues are and knows what’s required. He has a good supporting cast, Kurt signing for 2 yrs is great news. girv gets a shot with the backs, if it doesn’t work our bring in higher profile for 2nd half of season. its fairly clear leinsters hands were tied as no one high profile wanted the job. Leo short on experience but tainting him with any aspect of last season, including forwards, may be wide of the mark as we don’t know the circumstances or directives he was working under. How great will it be if it works out? leinster developing their own Liverpool, bootroom style, succession planning
This never works
About time…. Le-o, Le-o, Le-o
No better man Leo!
Ah there’s quite a few better men in fairness.
Have to say this sounds brutal. 3 times European Champions with a rookie coach. For some bizarre reason I am getting the old “Ireland don’t want to win the Eurovision” feeling again.
This will not end well.
Very true Aaron, I dunno is it because leinster are struggling to attract a top coach or whether they are just willing to take a risk with big Leo but either way I could think of 10 better and more suitable coaches for the job
In fairness Joe was a rookie coach when Leinster took him on and look at home now, he’s possibly the best coach in the world, definitely in the northern hemisphere at least. We got it wrong with O’Connor but maybe he was, on paper, the safe bet back then, maybe a bold move is what we need. Best of luck to him. A leinster man who knows leinster rugby with good men of the old guard behind him who also know how things were run in the good times. This could go very very well. It could also be a disaster but I choose to be optimistic! ;-)
@bazhealey I’m flummoxed! The “Old Guard”? What are you talking about. Cheika won our first cup. Leinster until then were considered a joke in European rugby. Capable of beating anyone but absolutely no consistency. He is doing exactly the same thing with the Australians at the moment.
In order to become champions you have to have a champion coach. The logic behind O’Connor’s appointment was sound. However he was put in the position where his style definitely didn’t suit that of Schmidt’s. I think it was proved definitively last year that Player Power should never be a factor in the appointment of a coach. Yet again we have been given quotes by the team that they are behind Leo. The reality is that if we want to win another European Championship we are going to need the best coach we can get and I can tell you now it is definitely not Leo.
Joe was far from a rucky coach he had coached in New Zealand and Clermont where he was highly regarded. The difference between Cullens and Smiths path to leinster head coach couldn’t be more different.
Hope he was paying attention during all Schmidt’s coaching sessions and video reviews.
i saw him at the big grill festival on Sunday. We are besties now
congrats to Cullen.. as a Munster fan will be interesting to see how he gets on..
Not convinced by this at all. Cullen just doesn’t have the experience for this job.
Leo Cullen has captained every team for which he has played including his country. In that role he would have interacted with coaches, selectors and trainers over the many years he played. I wish him and the team the very best for the coming season which will be difficult due to the demands of the WC. He has a good coaching team around him and a great squad of players to pick from.
Best of luck to Leo. Hopefully they recruit a high profile backs coach post RWC also. Someone that can act as a mentor to him the way Gaffney did for Cheika at Leinster and the Warratahs. Someone like Ex Wallabies and Reds Super Rugby winning attack coach Jim McKay would be excellent. He’s with Tonga for the RWC
Delighted with this appointment. Long may Leo reign!
In Leo what we have is a very intelligent passionate Leinster man, I wish him and Kurt (defensive coach) all the best. What seriously miss fired last season was our use of the ball in attack… so for me Girvan as backs coach ( if I’m right) will bear the mosw pressure from the supporters who demand high quality finishing from our backline
I don’t agree with Leinster Rugby’s very premature appointment of Leo Cullen as head coach, but the proven and impressive Kurt McQuilkin will be the most crucial man for Leinster over the next two years (along with Richie Murphy arguably, who as a coach has worked closely with Joe Schmidt over the past few years and would have learnt a good deal from him), in terms of his input as a member of the coaching team and on the training field.
The extension of Kurt McQuilkin’s stay from an initial three-month contract to a two-year contract is the one, small silver lining from today’s coaching announcement from Leinster Rugby.