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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Leo Cullen says Leinster must step for 'different beast' Montpellier after 'so-so' winning display

Not quite seventh heaven for Leinster despite grabbing the five points on offer to start off this year's Champions Cup bid.

There was satisfaction for Leo Cullen that his side had the winning bonus point wrapped up in under 25 minutes at the Aviva Stadium, and that the four positive Covid cases in camp didn't derail the Blues' ambitions for a fast start to their European campaign.

However, considering the strength of the opposition - a poor Bath side are bottom of the Premiership with no wins - Cullen knows that there was more to this story than a seven-try victory, that Leinster must improve a good deal if they are to win at Montpellier, who are third in the Top 14, on Friday night.

It's a quick turnaround for the Blues and after yesterday's opening pool win their head coach admitted that he needs more from his players - more quality, more control.

It is not yet known if Johnny Sexton and Jack Conan will return for the trip.

Leinster turned it on at times in the first half, especially when Tadhg Furlong led the way at his buccaneering best and dynamic duo James Lowe and Hugo Keenan connected for tries.

It was dangerous - far too hot to handle for the visitors - but it was also fairly loose and chaotic stuff.

Leinster did lead 31-6 late in the first half but Cullen was particularly unhappy that, having emptied the bench and handed out some European debuts, his team lost the final 20 minutes 7-0.

"Definitely the game got very, very loose quite early really. We lacked control," he said.

"Some of it is down to us as coaches, making some changes early which created a bit of disruption around that cohesion part."

And Cullen warned: “Well, we won't be able to afford to do it next week because it's a whole different beast that we are taking on.

"Montpellier, you just look at the depth to their squad, the quality of international players that they have there.

“They've close to an unlimited budget. They are very, very ambitious there. They are motoring on pretty well in the Top 14 at the moment, sitting third.

“It's a brilliant challenge for us now. For us, it's just about getting excited about the week now.

"Montpellier have sent a funny selection to Exeter, so the general message is that they have got their big stars resting up this week ready for our game.

"It's a good challenge for us."

That first half saw Leinster carelessly fall behind to an Orlando Bailey penalty but Jamison Gibson-Park made up for his part in that sloppy start by crossing for the first try, ending a quick-fire move involving Ciaran Frawley, his centre partner Garry Ringrose and Lowe.

The outstanding Furlong finished a move engineered by stand-in skipper Rhys Ruddock, then Keenan set up Lowe for the third try before Lowe returned the compliment to his full-back to secure the bonus point.

A fifth try - Gibson-Park's second - was the second scored as Bath were down a man with Richard DeCarpentier in the sin-bin, but the visitors replied with a clever blindside break with Jacques du Toit scoring before half-time.

Ronán Kelleher's determination saw him grab the sixth, eight minutes into the second half, and Josh van der Flier added the seventh one some 10 minutes later.

But the game was to have only one more try, a 79th minute consolation for Bath courtesy of replacement Gabe Hamer-Webb's superb effort through the middle.

“We didn't quite deliver in the last 20 minutes because we were trying to get as big a score as possible, but it's done now," added Cullen.

"We need to move onto the next challenge. It's important we learn the lessons."

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