Leo Cullen says he has no intention of walking away as Leinster head coach this summer, and he insists he is the man who can deliver a fifth Investec Champions Cup title to the province.
Pressure has mounted on Cullen after Leinster's latest Champions Cup heartbreak last week, where they were hammered 41-19 by Bordeaux-Begles in the decider in Bilbao.
The 48-year-old, who has been head coach at his home province since 2015, has won five URC/Pro14 titles, as well as a Champions Cup in 2018, but they have been beaten in the final five times since, with four of those coming in the last five seasons.
Cullen signed a two-year contract extension in November 2024, which runs up to the summer of 2027, and when asked if he was confident that he is the person to finally get the province over the line in Europe, there was no ambiguity in his answer.
"Yes, absolutely, 100% believe that. Just to put it on the record, absolutely," he replied.
"Listen, there's lots of things that we will do a real deep dive on.
"You only get to play the very, very best at the end [of the tournament], because obviously everyone has to fight their way through.
"You want to try, and every year try and do as well as you can, trying to give yourself best chance to progress through the tournament with all the different variables of the rules.
"There's so much planning going into this already. So for me to walk away from this, that's not going to make this better. It's not going to make it better.
"It's difficult to deal with some of these days for sure, because there's the weight of expectation. In many ways, it's the win or bust mentality, isn't it?
"We do everything we can, so we know if we don't win the Champions Cup, there is a bust mentality. And we're getting there. We're getting there year after year after year.
"I will be fully committed as we finish this season into next season and we'll go steaming into it again, like we try to every single year."
The Leinster boss was criticised in some quarters this week for seemingly downplaying the defeat to Bordeaux, as he spoke of how "special" it was to be involved in another Champions Cup final.
Addressing the media ahead of tomorrow's URC quarter-final against the Lions, Cullen gave a more honest account of the mood in the camp this week.
"I know it feels after you lose, like the world has ended. Listen, that's the way we feel, by the way.
"So we're feeling it hard, but as I said, we've an opportunity now to turn the page, our best chance of having success in the Champions Cup, it’s not actually starting next season. It’s starting in the next few weeks, as in the next few days, the days which lead into the Lions.
"Can we get through the quarter-final game, which leads us into a semi-final, and can we get to a final because that gives us a better seeding into next year's competition. So straight away, you'll have somewhat of an advantage.
"We're desperate to be the top team in club rugby.
"That's what we want to be, and that's exactly what we want, but it does feel like it's the boom or the bust," he added.
While a URC title won’t fully repair the scars of another Champions Cup final, it would at least allow them to sign off the season with silverware for the second year in a row.
Unlike last season, they may have to go on the road to get their hands on the trophy again, with Glasgow Warriors having the highest seed heading into the play-offs.
And while Cullen says there will be a deep-dive into last week’s defeat over the summer, they must first put all of their attention on the Lions, and ensure tomorrow’s game isn’t their last of the season.
"It's not a conversation for right now because we've a bit to go through in terms of we need to finish out this campaign, which, as I said, leads into next year's campaign, but in terms of reframing the actual competition, yeah, definitely, we will look at everything.
"Bordeaux effectively have three half times to be able to get the group together and give the messages..."
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 27, 2026
🎙️ @bernardjackman on a couple of areas where Leinster could learn from Bordeaux-Begles 🏉
📺🎧 Full pod: https://t.co/sXFSWXUYgh pic.twitter.com/toHZCKioB7
"What do we think the best way for us to move forward as a group, because at the end of the day it's not just us looking to improve. Every team is.
"We just need to keep our competition as strong as we possibly can and keep investing in it, but we just need to keep working away.
"Like I said, there's so much potential in the province. We just need to keep going after that all the time.
"I'm as consumed by it as I ever have been. It is consuming, but listen, I love doing it. When you have days like you had at the weekend, it's brutal. It's absolutely brutal.
"But listen, that's when you show what you're made of. Get up and let's go again.
"That's what we talked to our players about this week, leaders need to get back out there and lead the group as tough as that may be, because there's no real benefit in hiding away from any of this.
"We need to get out and confront it and go again. That's what we can control at this moment in time," he added.
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