Cullen admits Leinster tried to keep Frawley as Champions Cup defeat sharpens the loss

Leo Cullen has admitted Leinster attempted to prevent Ciaran Frawley from leaving the province, only for the 28-year-old to commit to a move to Connacht — a decision that stings sharper after Frawley’s composed performance off the bench in Leinster’s Champions Cup Final defeat to Bordeaux in Bilbao.

“Listen, we tried to keep him, and he decided to move on, so we wish him well,” Cullen said. “It was one we were a little frustrated with at the time, but we can’t undo it, unfortunately.”

Frawley entered the final on 44 minutes, replacing Harry Byrne, and injected the direction Leinster had been lacking. The timing made his impending departure all the more pointed, arriving at the end of a season in which Cullen has rotated persistently at out-half without settling on a clear answer.

Byrne currently holds the number ten jersey, while Sam Prendergast — recently the first choice — has slipped down the pecking order. Frawley, who began the campaign third in line, finished it as arguably the most in-form of the three, yet spent much of the season as a utility option off the bench. Twelve of his 23 appearances came as a replacement, and none of his 11 starts saw him deployed at ten, with Cullen preferring him at fullback and inside centre.

Cullen’s post-final assessment reinforced just how fine the margins were against Bordeaux. “They’re just that split second quicker than we were, and very, very clinical,” he said. “That’s the bit for us to reflect on and try to get better.”

On the broader result, Cullen was characteristically measured. “That’s what it’s about. Winners and losers. Winners will have a story of how clinical they were, the losers about how we weren’t quite clinical enough. And that’s the game.”

Next season, Leinster will look to resolve their ten problem without Frawley in the building. Twenty-year-old Caspar Gabriel, the Austrian-born playmaker widely regarded as the province’s most promising young out-half, is expected to receive greater opportunity as Cullen rebuilds around a position that has defined — and at times undermined — Leinster’s campaign.