Leo Cullen Leinster Rugby Ireland United Rugby Championship Ulster Rugby Connacht Rugby Munster Rugby Sport Rugby Leo Cullen Leinster Rugby Ireland

URC review: Snyman debut showing gets Leinster up and running, while Munster and Connacht dig deep

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Three wins from three, 15 points from a possible 15, a double-World Cup winner bedded in, things couldn't be much better for Leinster.Well, they are the bullet points.But a closer look at the games suggests Leinster are not purring yet, and that’s no harm."We’ll have to get a hell of a lot better," said Leo Cullen after beating Edinburgh by two points on the opening day; "clunky" was how they described the victory over Dragons, while after Saturday’s 35-5 success at Benetton, during which they went 52 minutes without scoring, the head coach admitted they "lost our way a little bit".The province have always had to juggle their significant resources at various points of the season due to having so many players on the national team, while the current Emerging Ireland tour took 12 players off their roster after round one.

The above faults in performances have mitigating circumstances.Indeed, in the long run, it’s arguably better for Leinster to have to battle for each point they gain.Some put Leinster’s failure to win silverware for the last three seasons partly down to how easy they found life in the URC regular season.Prior to last season they finished top of the table four years in a row with no second-place team closer than six points.Ciarán Frawley starts and finishes a sweeping move, as Leinster race into a 14-0 lead

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Leinster maintained their winning start to the BKT United Rugby Championship with a 24-6 win against the Emirates Lions, although the South Africans did keep Leo Cullen's side below four tries for the first time this season.
Since he started making waves for the Ireland Under-20s in their Grand Slam year of 2023, comparisons with Johnny Sexton have followed Sam Prendergast around.
Leo Cullen doesn't have any complaints about the Emerging Ireland tour and wants to use it in a "positive way" after naming eight tourists from the recent trip in the Leinster squad to face the Emirates Lions tomorrow.
Robbie Henshaw will make his first appearance of the season for Leinster in Saturday's BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with the Emirates Lions at the Aviva Stadium (Saturday, 5.15pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
RG Snyman has been blown away by the depth of quality in the Leinster set-up and called the potential of Sam Prendergast "crazy".
With Andy Farrell due to name his squad for the Autumn Nations Series on Wednesday, the weekend was the last chance for some of the players on the fringes to impress the Ireland head coach.

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