Leo Cullen: Win v Sharks 'a step in the right direction'

Leo Cullen says Leinster have taken a "step in the right direction" with their bonus-point win against the Sharks, but admits his side still looked a bit rusty as they picked up their first victory of the season.

Leinster rebounded from last week's defeat to Glasgow but running out comfortable 34-13 winners against the South Africans at the RDS, as two tries for Rob Russel, and one each for Jordan Larmour, Max Deegan and Tommy O'Brien saw them pull clear in the second half.

"We're up and running which is nice, and good for this group as well because they put in a lot of good work over pre-season," the Leinster head coach told RTÉ Sport.

Cullen's side led 12-6 at half time, with Larmour and Deegan getting over for first half tries, but the crucial period came just after half time when hooker Lee Barron was sin-binned for head contact on Sharks hooker Kerron van Vuuren.

A mistake from Sharks out-half Curwin Bosch let Leinster off the hook, and they won the 10-minute period 3-0, with flanker and captain Scott Penny even throwing into the lineout on several occasions.

"I think Scott [Penny] was excellent today with how he led the team and put in a performance for us, but in particular with how we handled that, on multiple levels.

"I'm pleased with how we managed that period because the game was a little bit sticky, we were a little fortuitous with how Bosch kicked the ball dead and that allowed us clear our lines.

"We probably rode our luck on a few different occasions but we’ll take it and it’s a positive step from where we were this time last week."

Penny had been captaining a largely inexperienced side at the RDS; starting loosehead Jack Boyle and hooker Lee Barron came into the game with a combined 11 appearances and their front