LEO CULLEN believes that Leinster’s status as the All Blacks’ sabbatical venue of choice is good for Irish rugby as a whole. The Blues host Ulster tonight at the Aviva Stadium in the URC at the end of a bombshell week in Belfield. First, the IRFU announced that the percentage provinces must pay for centrally contracted players was to be increased from 30 to 40. In reality, it is a Leinster tax, as the province has 11 of the 14 centrally contracted players, with the funds to be used by Ulster, Munster and Connacht for player development. But if that move looked to be about levelling up Leinster’s rivals, Cullen’s side then pulled off a coup with the announcement that All Black centre Rieko Ioane would be signing for next season. He is the second All Black to take his sabbatical — the NZRU allow players to take a season abroad before returning to the international fold — with Leinster after Jordie Barrett during this campaign. Landing the New Zealand stars has long been a Cullen notion. He revealed the genesis of the plan to recruit All Black stars started with a conversation about how they could land all three Barrett brothers — Jordie, Scott and Beauden. The Barrett family lived in Oldcastle in Meath for a time. But he believes that recruiting some of the stars of the world game is crucial for Irish rugby — both in terms of attracting new fans and influencing current players by giving over their intellectual property. Cullen said: “There’s the IP piece where they get embedded in the group and everyone takes a little bit from it. “The clever players are very clever in taking stuff from other players who have been around a long time or someone they’ve just been introduced to. “Even when we get the opportunity to bring in a coach, it’s ‘Let’s get the best person we can’. “Whether that person is sitting next door or on the other side of the world, let’s try and make that work. “We also understand we have a remit which is to get players playing for Leinster and Ireland and that’s something we take seriously as well. “We want to make sure that we expose the players to as much as we can to make them a world-class player for Leinster. “If they’re a world-class player for Leinster then they’re probably going to get picked for Ireland as well. “Players will generally listen to players. Coaches are parents or teachers versus that peer-to-peer thing which can be more powerful, particularly with someone they respect from the top end of the game.” While producing players is crucial — 14 members of today’s starting XV are homegrown — Cullen revealed the Blues have discussed sending players away for short stints to gain experience, such as Harry Byrne’s loan move to Bristol Bears. But, on balance, it is better to bring in people from overseas so everyone benefits rather than sending individual players abroad. Cullen said: “They’ve all come through the system so where do they get that bit of . . . like, do you send them off on sabbatical, which is something we’ve talked about as well? “Do they go away somewhere else to play and broaden their horizons? “That’s hard to manage because of the length of the season and we have players coming and going at different stages. “So to get someone from the outside and bring in that top-end experience . . .” Leinster are far from the only province to do it too. RG Snyman — now with Leinster — and Damian de Allande joined Munster after winning the 2019 World Cup with South Africa, while Steven Kitshoff joined Ulster following the Springboks’ 2023 success. But Cullen believes the negativity about Leinster doing it is wrong, as stars like Barrett now and Ioane next year generate interest in the sport and inspire youngsters. He added: “If you’re at underage sport on a Saturday and Sunday, it’s unbelievably competitive for the hearts and minds of kids. “When we have Jordie Barrett up in Dundalk or over in St Mary’s, the kids are so drawn to that. “It does help get bums on seats, bums on seats means more coming to the games, watching rugby, which helps grow revenue, which helps get kids playing the game. The game was negative three, four or five years ago about participation levels and all the rest. “So we need to be careful there. We need to make the game exciting. If it’s bringing players from outside that makes it a bit more exciting . . .  “You’re competing for attention all the time. “It’s entertainment, it’s the business side of sport.”