‘We want to produce players for Ireland’ – Leo Cullen blocks out criticism of Leinster’s advantages
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. Photo: Sportsfile
Leo Cullen has opted not to engage in the debate around Leinster’s funding and the IRFU’s central contracting model in the wake of his side’s audacious capture of Jordie Barrett.
On the same day they announced they were signing the 57-cap All Black, the province saw Dan Sheehan added to the list of IRFU centrally-contracted players at their disposal which in turn led to a conversation about their advantages.
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“Listen, I haven’t really thought a huge amount about it to be honest,” he said, speaking from Johannesburg yesterday.
“We want to be able to produce players to play for Ireland, that’s the model in this country, and that’s the system the way it is, we want our guys to go on and represent Ireland and we want to be able to give everything they have when they do represent Ireland and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
The Leinster coach, who hopes to have Garry Ringrose and Hugo Keenan available for the Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton, admitted the short-term Barrett move was all the more attractive given Leinster will be operating away from the RDS next season.
“The opportunity to sign a marquee player, for a short window ... we’re moving from the RDS next year ... you want to add to the player group you have, because you have only so many opportunities to bring coaches and players from the outside, you want to make sure that whoever you are bringing in is really going to add value,” Cullen said.
“He’s a player, hopefully from a supporter point of view, that they’re excited to see, he’s a top-quality All Black who has 50 or 60 caps; hopefully there is a bit of excitement.
“All the academy players are based in the building with us, they’re changing in the same dressing room, it’s that daily interaction, the habits ... they see the guys who play with Ireland, but just to get a slightly different perspective it is quite a nice thing for the group, that little bit of gold dust that gets added to everybody, particularly the young players.”
