Cullen pleased with attitude after holding off Ulster

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen praised the professionalism of his players, after they booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup with a 30-15 win against Ulster at the Aviva Stadium.

In dreadful weather conditions, the hosts outscored their opponents by three tries to two, with Ross Byrne kicking 15 points off the tee, which kept a dogged Ulster side at arm's length for much of the second half.

The four-time champions never hit their free-flowing best across the 80 minutes, but with the game being played under steady rainfall and above a greasy pitch, Cullen was pleased with how his side navigated their way to victory.

"Happy to be through, I suppose, with lots of good stuff in terms of the intent in the performance," the Leinster coach told RTÉ Sport.

"Conditions made it very difficult, you'd be worried before the game it could turn into a bit of a lottery. There are things we talk about, in terms of pressurising the opposition, which is important.

"Overall the lads managed field position well, some good variation in terms of play considering the conditions. But all it is is about getting through to the next round."

On another day Leinster could have won easily as they dominated possession and territory, particularly in the second half.

But they were made to graft hard for their three tries - scored by Ryan Baird, Jamison Gibson-Park and Andrew Porter - with Ulster logging 197 tackles across the 80 minutes.

"Ulster are a very, very good team and they made us work in a lot of facets," Cullen added.

"They dug in defensively really, really well, and made life difficult for us. How am I feeling now? It's looking ahead straight away, after such a along lead into this game, we have a short lead into the