LEO CULLEN BELIEVES the next month could be pivotal in Leinster’s season.

After losing to Connacht on Saturday, Leinster have now fallen 10 points behind Ulster in Conference A and with only the winners from each Conference progressing to the Pro14 final, Friday’s interprovincial derby has taken on additional meaning.

A victory for Ulster would leave Leinster behind the eight ball, irrespective of the fact they have two games in hand. With 10 wins from 10, and with Champions Cup rugby effectively an irrelevance for them this season, Friday’s Pro14 derby has added meaning to Dan McFarland’s side. For Cullen, the importance of the fixture has also become clear.

“This block of games is huge for us now,” he said after Saturday’s 35-24 loss. “We’ve Ulster, who are top of our Conference, so we need to focus on putting in a positive performance against them. Then, after that, we’re into two games in Europe, so these three weeks are absolutely huge for the club. 

“Connacht looked the more cohesive, hungry team on Saturday and it looked like the level of physicality surprised us at the start. I’m not sure why, because we’ve come unstuck against Connacht in the past. 

“We know those guys are highly motivated and it’s going to be the exact same this week against Ulster.

“And our guys need to understand the challenge that is there. Everyone wants to come here and beat Leinster. 

“Ulster have a big string of ex-Leinster players, a lot of guys there that will be highly motivated playing in these derby games. It is a huge step up in the provincial games over your regular Guinness Pro14 games because there are so many players with a point to prove. For our guys they have seen that first hand now. You can talk about it all you want but until you really experience it, it is hard to get the gauge for it. Nobody likes losing games for Leinster here at home in the RDS. It’s been a while since it happened. We need to make sure that we regroup, stay tight as a group and come back stronger.”