'We will make a plan for next year and come back stronger' - Cullen

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen.

LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen lamented another season of missed opportunities, as his side’s URC campaign ended in a whimper with defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

Cullen’s team have not progressed further than the semi-finals of the URC in the three seasons the championship has been played, and have now lost to the Bulls in two of these – the other being the shock one-point defeat in Dublin in 2022.

Added to the three consecutive Champions Cup losses, there are questions being asked about what it will take for Leinster to get over the line, and Cullen knows he will come under scrutiny for the continued failure to claim silverware.

But after the game, he said he believed that Leinster were very close to achieving the goals that eluded them.

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“When you are fighting on two fronts, it takes its toll, definitely,” Cullen said after the game.

“From our point of view, we are very, very close to getting there. This squad won’t be the same again, like every team at this point of the season, we have some great servants of the club that are moving on.

“We have some other players that are coming through next year so we will do our best to get ourselves into this situation again and to be better. It is frustrating the way this has played out for us, particularly the way some of these challenges have been for us this season – after the World Cup and the length of the season.

“Some of our players have been going full-on since this time last year, but that is the challenge of these types of seasons. For now, we will go back and reflect and make a plan for next year and come back stronger.”

With many of the Leinster players playing their first game at altitude in Pretoria, some real worries of mental scars are there with Ireland’s first test against the World Cup champions, the Springboks at the same venue in three weeks’ time.

But Cullen believes that experiencing the partisan atmosphere first-hand will be positive for yhem ahead of facing the Boks.

“They will have a bit more time with Ireland to prepare than we did,” said Cullen.

“It is a great experience for them to experience this. It was an amazing atmosphere and the Bulls showed a lot of fight and physicality. We knew they would and they need to get credit for how they performed today.”

The Bulls will face Glasgow Warriors in the final at Loftus Versfeld with coach Jake White hoping his side can go one further than their loss in the inaugural final in 2022 against the DHL Stormers.