Leinster marked their final game of 2024 with a commanding 28-7 bonus point win over Munster in Limerick on Friday night. La Rochelle will be hoping to do the same away to Perpignan today before Ronan O’Gara’s side ring in the New Year with a home meeting with Toulouse next weekend.
Given that Leinster are still searching for cohesion, perhaps Leo Cullen would have welcomed another run-out, but the URC’s break week allows more time for the likes of Tadhg Furlong to step up his recovery in the hope of featuring against La Rochelle and Bath.
Leinster came through their latest successful visit to Thomond Park unscathed, with Cullen able to rest Jamison Gibson-Park, RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett.
Mindful of not securing home advantage in last season’s URC semi-final, Cullen is determined to right the wrongs, all the while knowing that there is still a very long way to go in this campaign.
“In the league we are at the half-way point or whatever, so if you think of some of the slip-ups that we had during the course of last year in the league campaign, which means at the end of the season then you’re scrambling trying to get flights to Pretoria for the semi-final, and it’s just the awkwardness of that,” Cullen said.
“In the perfect world, you want to try and get as high a seeding as possible. The first six games of the season we used a lot of players and then you are trying to navigate with the internationals being away and rested and all the rest.
“Overall, listen, the group is working hard for each other and that is the important part. All across the board we can be better and it’s maybe not helped by some of that cohesion part, but listen, I thought the lads put in a decent short week’s work this week.
“But now we get to work on some of our game with the whole squad and try to build for the last two Champions Cup games and then the Stormers after that. So, again, we’ll need a squad effort because that Stormers game will come with a lot of the international lads out that week.
“If you think about what we are facing, it’s a training week into three game weeks. Obviously then we have a bit of a break and the Six Nations kicks into gear.
“At this time of year, listen, I’m not sure many people look back and remember the specifics of certain games, it’s trying to get the outcome out of the games, and build your form as you go along. And I think we are doing that okay but it’s a work in progress, I would suggest.”
La Rochelle may not be the force of old, but they remain a ‘big game’ team, who on their day can beat anyone in Europe, especially at home.
“We have an unbelievable challenge going up against La Rochelle away, which will be a great test for us,” Cullen added. “We will see how they are tracking over the next couple of weeks. Going back to what we can control is how we prepare – we’ll go over there and try to give a good account of ourselves.”
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2024-12-29 04:46:22
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