Questions for Cullen as Leinster fall short once more

Control the controllables. It’s the overused Irish rugby mantra that everyone in the system falls back on.

You can’t control the bounce of a ball, you can’t dictate how the referee will see the scrum and you can’t account for the best player in the world playing his best ever game.

But there’s a list of variables that are within the power of those that make structural decisions over the course of a season at a club.

And Leinster Rugby has fallen short.

If the XV who started Saturday’s 25-20 loss to Bulls don’t start for Ireland against South Africa in three weeks’ time then it won’t be far off. They are an international side in club colours.

Leinster will next season be able to supplement superstars RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett into the squad.

When Stuart Lancaster left last season, his replacement was a double-World Cup winning coach. Jacques Nienaber doesn’t come cheap.

Back in 2022 their budget was reportedly around €18million. While it will change next season, their domination of the central contracts has given them leeway to spend elsewhere. None of the other provinces are operating with the same funds.

When the final whistle went at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday it stretched their drought to three seasons.

That covers three narrow Champions Cup final losses and three one-score play-off defeats in the URC. It’s small margins at the top end but it’s no consolation for Leinster that they dine at the top table but are asked to leave before dessert is served.

“The standard for Leinster is silverware and the organisation has to look long and hard at themselves,” Jamie Heaslip, a four-time Heineken Cup winner with the province, told RTÉ Sport.

“Essentially, a club side has beaten an international side.

“It’s incredibly frustrating for the players, the fans for everyone watching given the expectations that are around Leinster, given the resources they have at hand.”

Leinster, with their European pedigree, have never made any bones about where their priorities lie. They judge themselves on winning the Champions Cup, a feat last achieved in 2018.

That’s clear in their own admissions and how they structure their season.

There may be a long-term benefit from sending a callow squad to South Africa, which they did for heavy defeats to Lions and Stormers but Leinster finished a single point behind Bulls in the URC table, losing home advantage by doing so, and having to travel to the Highveld to play the semi-final at altitude.

Croke Park, as it happens, is only around nine metres above sea level.

The decision was made not to send the bulk of their Champions Cup front-liners on the long trip in order to save their energy for the clash with Northampton Saints.

“They have got it wrong [against Bulls], they have got it wrong again this year,” said former Ireland and Munster lock Donncha O’Callahan.

“It’s brilliant…the stat of using 50 players but when it comes to cup final rugby you have to win it and you need to have a team.

“We saw this team, star-studded with internationals, they were lost on the road because they are not used to doing it. That is a flaw from management.”

A similar decision not to begin their round-17 URC game with Ulster with more than two Champions Cup starters backfired badly.

But even that was retrievable had one of experienced second rows James Ryan (above) and Ross Molony, or kicker Harry Byrne had the presence of mind to take a late gimme kick at goal that would have more than likely been the winner.

The decision was made to go for a bonus-point score in a game where they didn’t need a bonus point. Munster finished the table on top, three points ahead of Leinster.

Leinster did little wrong in the final against Toulouse. Conceding just one try over the course of 100 minutes would win most European finals.

But there’s a give and take, and little argument that their free-flowing attacking style wasn’t hampered by their new defensive mindset.

You can see why they did it – it landed Nienaber (above) two World Cups but when Robbie Henshaw said he felt Leinster were “not ourselves” in that match in London, you knew what he meant.

Ciarán Frawley, who stepped up to the plate and narrowly missed a drop at goal that would have won the game, was excellent when he replaced Ross Byrne in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but there were questions raised about why, if he was the back-up in the biggest match of the season, he didn’t see game time at 10 – up in Ulster the week previous perhaps.

Just two of his 15 starts this season came at out-half, his stated preferred position. The two appearances totaled 110 minutes albeit he came off the bench seven more times.

Many of the Leinster players, in the aftermath of the loss to Toulouse, spoke about the importance of finishing the season with a trophy but it was not a switch they were able to flick.

You can’t spend the whole season talking and acting like the Champions Cup is the only show in town and then treat the kid brother with the same seriousness.

Hugo Keenan’s decision to switch to Sevens, as understandable as it was, sent a message.

Not only from the player himself but from his employers: another URC title would be nice and we think we can do it without the best full-back in the world.

What did that say to an already fired-up Bulls outfit on their home patch?

Would Keenan have allowed Sergeal Petersen to claim that high ball to score the winner? Impossible to say for sure but you’d like his chances.

O’Callaghan, who won Heineken Cups in 2006 and 2008, said Leinster have been given an easy ride and cut a frustrated figure on RTÉ Sport’s post-match analysis.

“They are one of the best resourced teams, not only in club rugby but in world rugby and they just have not delivered,” said the 45-year-old.

“People leave them off, media leave them off.

“They need to be held accountable, not only for this performance but for the performance over the last while.

“From a Leinster point of view, absolutely terrible performance, terrible result and one that should really rock the foundations.”

Cullen and co, with the addition of coach Tyler Bleyendaal, Snyman and Barrett, will go again next season, but it would be a major surprise if they don’t attempt a new approach to bring a trophy home.

It is, after all, what they judge themselves on.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Watch highlights of the weekend’s action on Against the Head, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 10.50pm