Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is hoping his side can put their European nightmare behind them when they take on Ulster in Friday night’s PRO12 encounter at the RDS.
Cullen’s side will be hoping for respite from their Champions Cup campaign against Ulster after back-to-back defeats against Wasps and Bath leave Leinster struggling to qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition.
The Leinster boss is eager to put those defeats behind him and is hoping to kick life back into his side’s season with a victory over Ulster.
“We knew it was going to be a very tough period of games,” Cullen told RTÉ Sport. “We’ve had two very tough games in Europe, we know we’re in a tough pool and we’re really disappointed with the fact that we only got a point from those two games.
“It’s great that we’re back here again at the RDS where we can try to exorcise a few demons. It’s a tough challenge; we’re playing Ulster who are in a very similar situation to ourselves. They’ve come off a very disappointing performance in Europe.
"It’s important that we put on a really big performance for the people who are backing us right now."
“The two teams have had some really good battles over the years and the players know each other very well,” he added.
“It’s a good game for us to be back involved with, it’s important that we put on a really big performance for the people who are backing us right now.
“The players and all the management feel a huge responsibility in terms of preparing the team and getting a good performance out of ourselves because we know that the last couple of week we haven’t been good enough.”
Cullen is wary of the threat that Ulster will pose his side and has pinpointed their kicking game as being one of the crucial aspects that Leinster will have to counter if they are to be triumphant.
“We know that we’re going to have to deal with the ball in behind us,” he said. “Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Jackson both have strong kicking games so across the board we know that we can deal with that better.
“We know that we can’t let a team like Ulster build a lead. Anytime you let a team build a lead they get comfortable and it’s easier defending then, so we need to make sure that we manage the game a bit better.”
Leinster are buoyed by the return of Rob Kearney who is available for selection again after being sidelined with a hamstring injury that ruled him out of both of his side’s Champions Cup defeats.
Cullen welcomed his return to fitness and hopes that Kearney will offer his side something extra against Ulster. The Leinster boss talked up his full-back and hailed him for: ”The amount of experience that Rob brings, plus he brings a real freshness and enthusiasm as well.
“He was very unfortunate against Scarlets here a few weeks ago, he tweaked a hamstring so it’s been three weeks for him to get back. He’s trained well and was close to getting back last week but just didn’t quite make it.
“But again we’ve a lot of experience in the team, we’ve a bit of freshness coming back, we have Mike McCarthy who went off during the Wasps game, he comes back into the mix. It’s important that we’re managing the resources as best we possibly can.”
