Matt Williams: Cullen’s massive contribution to Leinster deserves recognition

It is time that Leo Cullen’s huge contribution to Leinster’s decades of constant high performance receives the respect that it deserves.

Having reached their fourth Heineken Champions Cup Final under his coaching, Leinster are proving to the world that long-term planning, combined with investing in educating players along an elite development pathway, does produce winning world class, professional teams.

Leinster have witnessed the rise and fall of many opponents. Munster, Leicester, Saracens, Toulon and Racing 92 have all been at the top and then, like a punctured soufflé, they have all deflated.

Recent comments from Leicester coach, Richard Wigglesworth, suggesting that Leinster have some form of structural advantage over their opponents more resembles a Trumpian conspiracy theory than reality.

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Compared to the French and English clubs the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Italian teams are at a great disadvantage because they are all compelled to select teams predominantly comprised of locally-produced players.

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The English and French clubs work in an open market where they can recruit any players they can afford. The French clubs have the added advantage of having no restrictive salary cap.

The remarkable reality surrounding Leinster is that they have turned this institutional bias in the system to their advantage. By investing resources into their feeder schools, juniors and academies, rather than paying huge contracts for overseas players, as the English Premiership has so disastrously done, Leinster have created a two decades-long production line of high-quality players.

The conspiracy theorists want us to believe Leinster are at the top because of some unfathomable change in demographics. The reality is Leinster are proof that long-term planning and consistency of leadership is the foundation of sporting dynasties.

Their recently retired chief executive, Mick Dawson, deserves huge credit for his exceptional service across two decades. His acumen and wisdom provided the essential resources that have empowered Leinster to build the academy and high-performance infrastructure that has underpinned Leinster’s on-field performances.

Apart from a short sojourn to Leicester, Cullen has been a constant leader within the club for 25 years. While Leinster as an organisation have continued to evolve and adapt, he has remained true to the club’s founding philosophy of playing running rugby.

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As a player, captain and now head coach, Cullen’s greatest talent, in addition to his honesty and superior work ethic, is his ability to empower those around him to overachieve and become greater than they believed they could be. This is his special gift.

Always shy of the media spotlight and understating his vital role in the team’s success, he consistently passes the credit on to his players and staff.

Leo likes to keep a low profile. A highly intelligent, easy-going person with a wicked sense of humour, his understated demeanour ensures far too many people underestimate the warrior competitor that lurks inside that quiet public persona.

Once he crosses that white strip of the sideline, his leadership has always been demanding and exact.

The greatest influence any coach can have on a match is the people they select to wear the jerseys. Leo is the best selector of player talent I have witnessed. His ability to change the personnel from week to week while maintaining constantly top-quality performances from his players is masterful.

Once again, Leinster have reached another Champions Cup final with a team filled with locally-produced talent. Players who have grown up dreaming of playing in a blue jersey. The Leinster team that demolished the colossus that is Toulouse had only three players selected in their match-day 23 that were not local products.

That fact alone should be celebrated across Ireland.

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Their current arch-nemesis La Rochelle have Australians, South Africans, Fijians and New Zealanders sprinkled among their high-quality French players.

Cullen is also an outstanding recruiter of coaching talent. Stuart Lancaster, Robin McBryde, Felipe Contepomi and now the signing of the World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber are a testament to how Leo empowers those around him to achieve their collective mission. Along with Seán O’Brien and Emmet Farrell, men who have worn the blue jersey and understand the club’s culture of success, they ensure the next generation of Leinster players are being exceptionally well coached.

None of this however guarantees Leinster success over the next month. Fighting on two fronts, one against the might of La Rochelle and then the colossus that is South African rugby, makes it now almost impossible for any Irish team to achieve the double of the URC and the Heineken Cup.

In a few weeks, the awesome quality of the Ronan O’Gara-coached La Rochelle will arrive in Dublin in the amazing position of being clear favourites to win the right to embroider a second star on to their jerseys. Their performance against Exeter was chillingly ruthless. Their work at the tackle contest is ferociously brilliant.

With few if any weaknesses, La Rochelle are the most complete European team since Saracens dominated the competition from 2015 to 2019. To defeat the brilliance and quality of La Rochelle will take a performance of Herculean proportions.

The ridiculous notion that being defeated in a final somehow makes the coach and the team failures needs to be confronted for the lie it is. Win or lose, Leo Cullen’s contribution to Leinster’s quality of play and unprecedented success should not be tarnished.

Both he and the team he coaches are class acts. Form is temporary but class is permanent.