Leo Cullen quiet on Stuart Lancaster exit rumours

Leo Cullen says speculation around the future of senior coach Stuart Lancaster is just "part and parcel" of rugby.

Reports in the French media suggest Lancaster is set to join Top14 giants Racing 92 this summer, which would end his seven-year spell working alongside Cullen at Leinster.

The province's head coach wouldn't be drawn on whether or not he expects the former England boss to remain on the coaching ticket beyond this season, saying he "can't comment" on the speculation.

"So we are in a period of speculation, shall we say, and we can't comment on other people's speculation, but there has always been things going on in the background," the Leinster boss said, ahead of tomorrow's BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with Benetton at the RDS.

Lancaster has been hugely popular since arriving in Dublin in September 2016, helping Leinster win a Pro14 and European double in 2018, adding three more domestic titles, and helping them reach two other Champions Cup deciders.

Last summer, Cullen lost two of his coaching ticket, with Felipe Contepomi and Denis Leamy returning to Argentina and Munster respectively, and he says the province's success in recent seasons means their players and coaches will always be in demand.

"We are very lucky that we have a very strong group, some great people in our building and that’s credit to a lot of the work that goes on over the last number of years, so we are very lucky in that regard.

"But the reality is there is lots of other clubs who look at the talent, whether that is players or coaches, we have, and that is something we have to deal with all of the time and people make different decisions at different stages.

"And we are trying to talk about one person specifically who has been and