Advertisement
Gary Carr/INPHO

Cullen pleased with Leinster's half-time problem-solving

Leinster head into the final round as top seeds after keeping Lyon scoreless in the second half.

AT TIMES DURING the first-half of their win over Lyon today, Leinster appeared like an irresistible force.

And yet, for all their cut, thrust and creativity, the halfway stage was reached with the lead standing at just 21-14.

“Lyon had a man in the bin and that is the period is where we struggled most,” said Leo Cullen post-match.

“(We) starting losing a few contacts. They started to get a rumble on, we gave away a few penalties; eventually they get in. We looked a little bit edgy in the dressing room at half-time.”

The break was put to good use, as was the ‘edge’. Leinster returned to the field with focus trained on a narrower approach after so much had come so easily in the game’s opening quarter.

Man of the match Max Deegan crossed for a bonus point try that leaves Leinster as the leading seed approaching the final round. However, following Munster’s loss to Racing, they must win an 18th consecutive match to guarantee a home quarter-final in the knock-out round.

After emerging with a 42-14 win, Cullen’s squad are certainly up to that task.

“I thought the bench were generally pretty good as well, made good impact. Scored six, it could have potentially been more, but it is what we wanted out of the game, a win bonus-point and on we go.

“It was a very long week last week. We had a number of players who had been off for a few weeks, trying to get them back into the flow of things.

“Overall we are pretty pleased. Forcing things a little bit and getting too complicated (in what we were doing). We kicked the ball away cheaply when Lyon were down to 14 players.

“They played keep ball for a while. They are a big physical team, very heavy and once they got that rumble on they were hard to stop. We weathered the storm and got the job done eventually.”

Close
18 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fred McHugh
    Favourite Fred McHugh
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 11:01 AM

    ENGLISH premier league- just in location

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mike Flannery
    Favourite Mike Flannery
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 11:06 AM

    Lower quality but more interesting football back then

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bungee Aky
    Favourite Bungee Aky
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 11:25 AM

    Brexit might bring back that reality sooner than people think

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Mc Dermott
    Favourite John Mc Dermott
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 11:42 AM

    Is it any wonder it’s never happened again… Villa lost 4-1 to Coventry!

    27
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brian Murphy
    Favourite Brian Murphy
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 11:26 AM

    Ironic it was a foreginer who scored the winning goals tho…

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damo.f
    Favourite Damo.f
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 2:41 PM

    Bernard Brogans long lost relative.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tricksy
    Favourite Tricksy
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 2:19 PM

    And not many English managers either !

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank MacNamara
    Favourite Frank MacNamara
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 2:41 PM

    I wonder what Premier team had the most Irish players in it?I remember Charlton Athletic had Matt Holland,Mark Kinsella&Dean Kiely at the same time.That would be hard to beat,I reckon.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank O'Mahony
    Favourite Frank O'Mahony
    Report
    Feb 27th 2019, 2:58 PM

    @Frank MacNamara: Villa with Stan (the gaffer), McGrath, Townsend and Houghton maybe

    14
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel