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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Leo Cullen would love Leinster to step into Páirc Ui Chaoimh against Munster after seeing Elton John there

Leo Cullen hopes to step into Páirc Ui Chaoimh on Leinster business against Munster - having loved his trip there to see Elton John.

With 10 points banked from the first two Champions Cup pool games to bring the winning run to 11 games from the start of the season, the Blues boss is happy with where his squad are ahead of the St Stephen's Day clash with their big provincial rivals in the URC.

"It's great to be in a healthy position in our pool," Cullen said. "Now you're in a position where you can be top.

READ MORE: Northampton v Munster recap: Score and result from Champions Cup clash

"We weren’t in that position last year and you're looking at all the different permutations.

"They're all much simpler for us now. We have a decent bank of points.”

Focus switches to the URC and the Thomond Park gig has become a festive tradition now.

Cullen will have noted how Munster's season finally clicked into gear when they beat South Africa 'A' in the Reds' first ever fixture in Páirc Ui Chaoimh. He would love to bring Leinster there at some stage.

“The atmosphere looked amazing down there for that game, ‘Zombie’ blaring out," he said. "Definitely, it would be great.

"I watched Elton John down there during the summer and it was very good. I brought our son, he’s a mad Elton fan. The stadium looks cool, it would be great.

Elton John on his farewell tour took in the redeveloped Cork stadium (Getty Images)

"That’s the thing in trying to grow the game, reaching more fans. It would be hugely positive.”

But, for the visitors, has it become an imposition on Christmas at home?

“It’s a half-seven kick-off down there and, ah, people are used to it," smiled Cullen.

"We’ll do a team run on Christmas Eve, in the morning, and then the guys not involved in the team will get a few days off then across the 24th, 25th, 26th and the day after the game as well, come back in fresh and be ready for Connacht here at the RDS on New Year’s Day.

"That’s the business we’re in. It’s part and parcel of the action. You just have to roll up the sleeves and get on with it.”

Johnny Sexton came off the bench for 20 minutes in last Friday night's 57-0 win over and could start in Limerick, but it remains to be seen if Tadhg Furlong returns after his recent ankle problems.

“We’ll change the team but there are guys who have been incredibly unlucky to lose out the last few weeks," Cullen stressed.

"Some of the calls are incredibly tight in some areas. The group is competitive and guys are itching to play.

"It’s mixing and matching the next couple of weeks. Some guys will play Munster and others will come back in for Connacht the week after. We’ll have a group that is raring to go, I think. I hope!”.

Leinster have no fear of playing in Thomond Park and have won their last three post-Christmas fixtures there, last losing in the fiery 2018 clash.

“It’s making sure that you have a group that is highly motivated, it’s a bloody tough place to go," cautioned Cullen.

"We have experienced that enough times down the years with the full house, the influence that the crowd has on officials because they get into everything, cheer for everyone.

"It makes the officials second guess some of their calls. You get that sense from where the coaches are sitting.

"We have experienced it where we don’t get into a natural flow in the game.

"You can think back to when we had the red card down there and we had a yellow card as well, maybe two, where we just lost control of the game.

"So it's about making sure we keep control in a pretty chaotic type of environment.”

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