Cullen dismisses outside criticism as Leinster demolish Bulls to retain URC title

Leo Cullen deflected a season’s worth of outside criticism after Leinster demolished the Bulls 36-7 at Croke Park on Friday night, claiming a 10th league title and becoming the first back-to-back champions of the United Rugby Championship era in front of a crowd of 39,000.

The victory capped a turbulent campaign in which Leinster lost three of their first four games and suffered a heavy Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to Bordeaux-Bègles in Bilbao last month. Key players also limped off during Friday’s final itself, yet Cullen was emphatic that the external narrative had failed to capture what the season felt like from within the squad.

“Oddly enough, whatever the perception is on the outside, we’ve really enjoyed this season,” Cullen said. “We’ve had a lot of fun in the last while. It’s a great group to be a part of.”

Cullen pointed to the scale of the turnaround as evidence of the group’s resilience, recalling the low point of a Round 4 defeat to Munster that left Leinster with a 1-3 record. The following week, he noted, Jerry and Alex Usanov made their debuts against Zebre in a matchday squad that featured six debutants.

“I thought that was an exceptional day out there today. It was a great way to finish the season,” he said. “The staff, everybody’s worked their a***s off, which is good.”

Cullen also acknowledged an at times fractious relationship with the media during the final weeks of the season, alluding to tense exchanges at several press conferences, though he declined to dwell on the friction. “There’s been so much great things this season — you’ve a negative slant always, but there’s been lots of positives,” he said.

Looking ahead, the Leinster head coach outlined the familiar cycle of renewal that follows a title win. “What’s the goal for us now is to take a bit of downtime and then get another group of younger players with a few experienced guys thrown in there for different reasons, injuries and all the rest, and try to make the group better again,” he said.

The atmosphere at Croke Park, a venue more commonly associated with Gaelic games, drew particular praise from Cullen, who noted the importance of maximising home advantage against a Bulls side unlikely to bring significant travelling support. “I thought it was amazing out there. Amazing atmosphere with the crowd and just people that really want to get behind the team,” he said. “It was just a great day for the province.”