Leo Cullen Dan Macfarland Ross Byrne Dan Sheehan Ryan Baird Leinster Rugby Charlie Ngatai Ireland Sport Rugby Leo Cullen Dan Macfarland Ross Byrne Dan Sheehan Ryan Baird Leinster Rugby Charlie Ngatai Ireland

Leo Cullen calls for Leinster to be more ruthless after surviving Ulster fightback

rte.ie

Leo Cullen said Leinster must show a more ruthless streak when closing out games after they survived a second-half fightback from Ulster on Friday night.Leinster led 20-3 after 46 minutes at a sodden Kingspan Stadium thanks to tries from Ryan Baird and Dan Sheehan and 10 points from the boot of Ross Byrne.However, they didn't trouble the scoreboard again as Ulster fought back to make it a one-score game.But for a superb last-ditch tackle by Charlie Ngatai on Aaron Sexton, which caused the Ulster wing to lose possession as he dived over the tryline, it would have been an even closer finish as Leinster held on to extend their 100% start in the BKT United Rugby Championship.Leo Cullen reflects on a hard-fought win over Ulster pic.twitter.com/8aOdR8WdX0"The game could have been put to bed 10 minutes into the second half," said Leinster head coach Cullen."There was lots of excellent stuff in the first half, set-piece, how we managed the game.

We were really smart in terms of the way we attacked the game."Start of the second half, we’re 20-3 up and have a lineout five metres out - crooked throw, scrum, give away a penalty, Ulster relieve the pressure.

They got the roll on a couple of times with their maul, we know it’s a strong part of their game."How we deal with high balls, we just gave Ulster access points back into the game.

Then the crowd are into it, a bit more pressure on the referee, more decisions are going their way, then you’re under the pump."But to be fair to the lads they scrambled well.

Related News
In our sixth episode of the new RTÉ Rugby podcast season, Bernard Jackman and Ian Keatley join Neil Treacy to give their take on the 37-man Ireland squad named by Andy Farrell for the upcoming November Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Australia.
Jacob Stockdale returned to the Ireland squad after a 15-month absence on Wednesday as coach Andy Farrell named six uncapped players in a 37-man group for the autumn internationals.
All four Irish provinces are represented in the BKT United Rugby Championship team of the week after some big performances in round five.
Ulster piled on the points during a Lions sin-binning before holding off a home fightback to win 39-37 in Johannesburg.
Leinster boss Leo Cullen said his side "dug in defensively" as they edged a physical interprovincial derby against Connacht to extend their winning start to the season.
Joey Carbery will make his first out-half start of the season in tomorrow night's BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with the Bulls at Thomond Park.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.