NOT MANY TEAMS can make 14 changes from their Champions Cup side, travel to last season’s competition finalists, and still come away with their first win at the ground for seven years.

That though is exactly what Leinster did to Glasgow Warriors, and Leo Cullen admits it has given him the good sort of selection headaches. 

“Some people have a perception from the outside what our best team is in any given week but we have a very competitive group of players and we picked guys to come over and do a job,” the Leinster head coach said.

“They were excellent, they showed a lot of character and dug in well for each other after a tricky start.

“We were a little unlucky with some of the scrum calls in the first half – conditions were difficult – but in the second half we got more dominance and started to generate some go-forward.

“We looked sharp in attack and it was a bit more controlled in the second half. We were able to play down at their end of the field and the guys dug in incredibly well. We got stretched and they got over the line a couple of times but we scrambled well to stop them scoring.”

Particularly pleasing for Cullen was the performance of 23-year-old Will Connors, making a strong case for himself at flanker with some devastating tackling and competing well at the breakdown.

“He has been excellent,” added Cullen. “He really leads the defensive line, gets off quickly and has very good technique in the tackle to really hit through guys.

“He put in some great shots and it was another positive for him to come here [to Scotstoun Stadium], which is a tough place to come. It was a great experience for him.

“We have Jack Conan and Dan Leavy both injured, but there are lots of guys who can step up now. It is nice and competitive with guys pushing each other on all the time. It creates a few positive headaches for us as coaches in the weeks ahead.”

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