New Leinster captain Kevin McLaughlin knows that his friendship with Leo Cullen must take a back seat as he leads the side through the early stages of this season’s Guinness PRO12.
The back-row forward has been named captain for the season’s opening games while several key players are away on World Cup duty and it is a role that McLaughlin is relishing to ensure that his side make the perfect start to new coach Cullen’s time in charge.
“It is a huge honour for me,” McLaughlin told RTÉ Sport at the launch of the new season. “I was delighted when Leo asked me to be captain of the club in July.
“Defensive training has gone up a notch in intensity since he arrived back." - McLaughlin on the return of Kurt McQuilkin
“Obviously it is for the World Cup period and I am holding it for probably Jamie when he gets back, but there has been no formal decision made on that yet.
“What I'm going to do is keep my head down for this period, try and lead the club successfully and have the club in good nick for when the lads come back from the World Cup so we can kick on from here.”
McLaughlin played alongside Cullen for eight years in the blue of Leinster and understands that his relationship with his good friend will remain on a professional level regarding club commitments.
“I was good friends with Leo when we played together and obviously the friendship has to take a little bit of a backseat because he is the boss now.
“I think he is doing a really good job so far. Obviously time will tell when the games start but he has brought a huge amount of structure to our game. We have been working really hard on getting a few plays really right rather than trying to bring in a huge amount into our play and that is particularly important with so many young guys and new guys into the environment from the academy.
“He has had a huge focus on getting the simple things done well and hopefully it will play dividends in the seven games during the World Cup.”
McLaughlin is also excited to see the return of Kurt McQuilkin to the province, having been named as defence coach.
“It is exactly what we need. It is great to see Kurtie back around,” said McLaughlin. “He adds real structure and he is extremely passionate about defence.
“Defensive training has gone up a notch in intensity since he arrived back. He is exactly what we need right now. Last year we had all the structure in our defence but maybe weren't hungry enough and missed too many tackles. I'm hoping with him back, and Leo as head coach, that we are going to put that right this season.”
“We can't afford to have another season like last year. We are all fully aware of that. It wasn't acceptable. It wasn't our standard. We had a good hard look at ourselves this summer about what happened last season.
“There is a huge level of hunger. Most of the guys in the environment now haven't won trophies, especially the younger guys, they need to drive that hunger and the experienced guys need to lead the way forward. Hopefully we'll have a successful season.”
