Leinster are expecting a wave of interest and applications for the post of head coach after confirmation on Monday that Leo Cullen will be stepping away from the role in 12 months’ time.
The Wicklow man has been in situ for a dozen years, during which time he has delivered six ‘league’ titles and a Champions Cup success in 2018. His win-loss ratio in that spell is over 72% across both competitions.
It’s a record that would stand as an unvarnished success with most clubs but Leinster’s inability to claim a fifth Champions Cup title in the last eight seasons is an itch that badly needs scratching even after their retention of the URC last Friday evening.
It could be that Cullen gets to go out with that trophy held above his head after next season’s decider in Lyon, but an era is ending either way given his first involvement with the province stretches back to a debut for the schools side in 1994.
Assorted questions await answers.
Names like Scott Robertson, Ronan O’Gara, Noel McNamara and Felipe Contepomi are already being bandied about regardless of individual circumstances or desires but that top role might not be all of it.
The rest of Cullen’s coaching ticket is on contracts that end in the summer of 2027 as well. The expectation is that Jacques Nienaber will return to South Africa and help guide the Springboks to a third straight World Cup.
Attack coach Tyler Bleyendaal and forwards coach Robin McBryde are part of that incomplete picture too. Leinster CEO Shane Nolan has confirmed that the process of replacing Cullen is already in train.
Leinster are dealing with tighter budgetary restraints and look like fielding a squad that will be lighter in volume and talent next year than this one, but it remains a highly attractive role that will catch the eye of top coaches on both sides of the equator.
The province rolled the dice with Michael Cheika and Joe Schmidt in years gone by and made a killing each time, but that was a different era again with different people in charge. Matt O’Connor’s appointment didn’t work out, and then there was Cullen.
It feels like this is the right move for all concerned and, while the inability to crack the Champions Cup code and five losing finals has been hard to take, there is no doubt that Cullen has given his all to the cause.
“I managed ten years as a player on different Leinster teams before moving to Leicester in 2005 and then returning to Leinster in 2007 to go on to experience some of the most amazing days imaginable,” he said.
“As many of you will know, I’m committed to Leinster up until the end of next season, and I intend to honour my contract, as I always have done.”
