The Leinster CEO Shane Nolan has confirmed that Leo Cullen has ambitions to coach Ireland one day, although it was purely coincidental that his new two-year deal with the province expires when Andy Farrell’s current contract ends in 2027.
“There’s no grand master plan in terms of co-ordinating contracts,” said Nolan on foot of confirming that Cullen has signed another two-year contract to extend his tenure as head coach beyond this season, which is his 10th at the helm.
“I think Leo has mentioned before that he has ambitions. A national team coach is definitely something he talked about before and I think he should have those ambitions, but he’s absolutely thrilled to be with Leinster for the next two years and we’re thrilled to have him.”
Cullen – who won 32 caps for Ireland and 221 caps for Leinster as a player, captaining them to three Heineken Champions Cups – guided the province to their fourth star in 2018, as well as four successive Pro14 titles from 2018 to 2021. However, they have lost three successive Champions Cup finals and three successive URC semi-finals, and Noland appreciates there might be “concerns” among some of Leinster’s more disgruntled fans.
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“We haven’t won anything in three years and of course we factored it in, but we also look beyond it and the actual results. Are we reaching finals? Yes, we are. Are we competing in those finals against the best teams in Europe? Yes, we are. We were the width of a post away and then we’re having a very different conversation.
“If you look beyond that, our team is largely home grown; 80-90 per cent of our team came through the pathways that Leo oversees,” said Nolan, adding that this is supplemented by world-class playing and coaching talent.
“He gets Leinster. He’s a stalwart of the club. He understands our culture, our ethos, the importance of the connection to the clubs, the schools, the communities. He gets our DNA.
“When you look through it from a broader lens, it was a very easy decision to make.”
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The RDS began work on the redevelopment of the main arena last month and pending clarity on timelines for “a complex build”, Nolan said: “We are making contingency plans for 2025-26 if the project does take that length of time.”
He described reports of a breakaway league as “a bit left field”, adding: “We had an EPCR club conference last week in London with 40 clubs, World Rugby, the unions ... it wasn’t discussed once. I’m not sure how credible it is in terms of a goer.”
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