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Leo Cullen hoping to bring freshness and fire ahead of Glasgow clash

Leo Cullen: 'Hopefully it'll be a great contest again'
Leo Cullen: 'Hopefully it'll be a great contest again'

Leo Cullen won't have much time to dwell on his side's laboured 12-point BKT United Rugby Championship quarter-final win over Scarlets on Saturday.

Leinster will face Glasgow Warriors next weekend, and Cullen feels they could well face some of same challenges that Scarlets posed for his side.

"What we know is that they're kicking the ball quite a bit, even at the end, pinning us back in our end, and I think Glasgow will be doing something similar next week as well," Cullen explained to RTÉ Sport.

The danger Scarlets could bring to Leinster's hopes of ending their four-year wait for a trophy had been at the forefront of coverage leading up to the game, and Cullen admits his side weren't flawless in their performance.

"It's like this time of year now, making sure that we're nailed on for every moment within the game.

"I don't think we quite did that today, but it's making sure we recover well now and turn the page quickly, and it's not one of those games that you're going to spend a huge amount of time reviewing."

James Lowe gave Cullen's side the lead in the fourth minute, and Jamison Gibson-Park made it 12-0 five minutes later.

Scarlets managed to respond from a 19th-minute lineout effort, and Leinster ended up conceding two in a strange first half.

"I thought we had most of the running in the first half. Scarlets did well when they did score their first try.

"I thought it was a pretty big moment before half-time, we're on their line.

"There were probably a couple of penalties there, a number of Scarlett's players offside, no clear release and one of the breakdowns, and then they go the length of the field and score, which is potentially a 14-point swing at half-time.

"The game could potentially be not quite dead and buried. Instead, it's a one-point game.

"I thought the players showed good composure in terms of how they responded at the start of the second half, and keep our noses in front for most of the game, which is good, and managed to get the game closed out at the end."

All eyes now turn to next week's fixture.

"It's great to be still playong knockout rugby at this stage of the season," added Cullen. "But like we talked about, it's week by week now. Glasgow and ourselves have had a good look at each other over the last number of weeks, so we know each other pretty well.

"Hopefully it'll be a great contest again."

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