FOR THE SECOND year running, Leo Cullen is tasked with picking his team up from a devastating Champions Cup final defeat and in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s remarkable contest at Aviva Stadium, the Leinster head coach told his team to keep the faith in their quest for a fifth European title.
The province played some scintillating rugby as the stormed into an early 17-0 lead but a determined La Rochelle effort triggered a stunning Leinster collapse in the second half.
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“The dressing-room now is pretty gutted as you can imagine because it means so much for the players and everyone who worked so hard to get to this point,” Cullen said.
“It was so, so close wasn’t it? Unbelievably close, you start the game really well with lots of really positive things in the first half but the flip-side of that is the second half – even though we come up with some good turnovers at our end of the field, we didn’t exit that well.
“It just means we’re feeding La Rochelle possession and territory, it’s tight margins. They managed to get over the tryline at the end of the game this time last year and we’re in that situation this year and we can’t get over the line. So, that’s how close it is.
“It’s come down to the closest of margins in the end, unfortunately on both sides we haven’t been good enough to do it.
For our guys, we have to stay at it and keep believing that they’ll get there.
“For now, that’s it. This season is done, our group changes now so that’s the way it happens at the end of every season; so we’ve some players who will move on. We’ll celebrate their time in the next little while, then we’ll go again.
“Unbelievably tight game, tightest of margins. There’s things that guys will look back on with regret, similar to last year. Unfortunately it’s just not to be today. The big thing is not to lose heart, we were up against a very good team.”
After a gripping first half which ended 23-14 in Leinster’s favour, a tense second period saw the French side apply huge pressure before Leinster’s defensive stand eventually cracked. Concerningly for Cullen, his team looked increasingly nervy as the game wore on and they struggled with their exits as La Rochelle kept them camped in their own half.
“It’s more that sustained pressure, you go back to some of those exits; they weren’t quite on our terms,” Cullen added.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“It didn’t quite go for us unfortunately, you’ve got to give them credit for the way they stuck at it after the start they had; the character they showed to come back.
“It’s devastating really, isn’t it? We went through that final when we came back from 16 points down against Northampton (2011), so we know what that feeling of jubilation is like.
“Now, we’re experiencing the other side of it where the players have built a big lead – 23-7 in the first-half, they get in for a try before half-time, a couple of things there and there were a couple of bits like that during the game – that’s what you’re going to get.
It’s the top end of the game, you’re up against a good team with top individual players. It’s a different model.
“The Top 14 teams, in terms of where they pull players from all around the globe, we’ve a bunch of players coming through the system here for the most part and we’ve just got to stay at it and believe in what they do. Work hard every day, keep pushing themselves on. They’ll be back.”
“The frustrating thing is we go behind but we get that opportunity to win the game (at the end) and we can’t quite do it unfortunately. That’s the bit that we need to get better at. But that’s not for today. That’s a different day’s conversation.
“You celebrate the occasion for what it is, two great teams going at it, and we’re very appreciative of people having turned out today, and you’ve got to applaud La Rochelle for dealing with that part of the game, coming from 17-0 early and 23-7 slighter later.
“It’s a pretty sick feeling in the dressing room at the moment.”
Cullen also rued the loss of James Ryan to a head injury in the first half, but added that his team need to be able to deal with such setbacks.
“James is a great player for us, hugely influential, and he went off after a pretty unlucky incident that happened in the game. But to win tournaments you need to deal with these disruptions.
“I thought James was outstanding in the first 30 minutes, led the group well. It would have been nice to have him on a little bit longer, but unfortunately that’s just the way games go.”
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'It's devastating. We have to stay at it and keep believing we'll get there' - Cullen
FOR THE SECOND year running, Leo Cullen is tasked with picking his team up from a devastating Champions Cup final defeat and in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s remarkable contest at Aviva Stadium, the Leinster head coach told his team to keep the faith in their quest for a fifth European title.
The province played some scintillating rugby as the stormed into an early 17-0 lead but a determined La Rochelle effort triggered a stunning Leinster collapse in the second half.
“The dressing-room now is pretty gutted as you can imagine because it means so much for the players and everyone who worked so hard to get to this point,” Cullen said.
“It was so, so close wasn’t it? Unbelievably close, you start the game really well with lots of really positive things in the first half but the flip-side of that is the second half – even though we come up with some good turnovers at our end of the field, we didn’t exit that well.
“It just means we’re feeding La Rochelle possession and territory, it’s tight margins. They managed to get over the tryline at the end of the game this time last year and we’re in that situation this year and we can’t get over the line. So, that’s how close it is.
“It’s come down to the closest of margins in the end, unfortunately on both sides we haven’t been good enough to do it.
“For now, that’s it. This season is done, our group changes now so that’s the way it happens at the end of every season; so we’ve some players who will move on. We’ll celebrate their time in the next little while, then we’ll go again.
“Unbelievably tight game, tightest of margins. There’s things that guys will look back on with regret, similar to last year. Unfortunately it’s just not to be today. The big thing is not to lose heart, we were up against a very good team.”
After a gripping first half which ended 23-14 in Leinster’s favour, a tense second period saw the French side apply huge pressure before Leinster’s defensive stand eventually cracked. Concerningly for Cullen, his team looked increasingly nervy as the game wore on and they struggled with their exits as La Rochelle kept them camped in their own half.
“It’s more that sustained pressure, you go back to some of those exits; they weren’t quite on our terms,” Cullen added.
“It didn’t quite go for us unfortunately, you’ve got to give them credit for the way they stuck at it after the start they had; the character they showed to come back.
“It’s devastating really, isn’t it? We went through that final when we came back from 16 points down against Northampton (2011), so we know what that feeling of jubilation is like.
“Now, we’re experiencing the other side of it where the players have built a big lead – 23-7 in the first-half, they get in for a try before half-time, a couple of things there and there were a couple of bits like that during the game – that’s what you’re going to get.
“The Top 14 teams, in terms of where they pull players from all around the globe, we’ve a bunch of players coming through the system here for the most part and we’ve just got to stay at it and believe in what they do. Work hard every day, keep pushing themselves on. They’ll be back.”
“The frustrating thing is we go behind but we get that opportunity to win the game (at the end) and we can’t quite do it unfortunately. That’s the bit that we need to get better at. But that’s not for today. That’s a different day’s conversation.
“You celebrate the occasion for what it is, two great teams going at it, and we’re very appreciative of people having turned out today, and you’ve got to applaud La Rochelle for dealing with that part of the game, coming from 17-0 early and 23-7 slighter later.
“It’s a pretty sick feeling in the dressing room at the moment.”
Cullen also rued the loss of James Ryan to a head injury in the first half, but added that his team need to be able to deal with such setbacks.
“James is a great player for us, hugely influential, and he went off after a pretty unlucky incident that happened in the game. But to win tournaments you need to deal with these disruptions.
“I thought James was outstanding in the first 30 minutes, led the group well. It would have been nice to have him on a little bit longer, but unfortunately that’s just the way games go.”
Get instant updates on your province on The 42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
European Rugby Champions Cup Leinster small margins