Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Leinster head coach Leo Cullen.Laszlo Geczo/INPHO FreeRegrets 'We get a little bit jittery' - Cullen regrets Leinster's 'horrific' defeat The Leinster boss believes he is the right man to continue leading the province. 9.12pm, 3 May 2025 Share options LEINSTER BOSS LEO Cullen stated his belief that he is the right man to continue leading the province as he bemoaned the “jittery” edge in his team’s performance as they fell to a “horrific” defeat to Northampton. The English side emerged as 37-34 winners in Dublin to book a place in the Champions Cup final, surviving a thrilling endgame when it looked like Leinster had scored a winner. Northampton’s attack cut Jacques Nienaber’s defence apart at times as they scored five tries in a wonderful semi-final, while they managed to pressure Cullen’s men into damaging errors at key moments. “The first thing is Northampton were excellent,” said Cullen. “We sat here yesterday talking about how strong Northampton are in terms of their attacking threats and what they’re capable of doing. I think we saw that in lots of different parts of the game. “We do plenty of good things. I think we were maybe inaccurate in stages in the first half. I thought Northampton were very good in terms of some of their counter-attack and they hit us on the counter a couple of times with some sucker punch tries. “Quite often when you fall behind, we get a little bit jittery, don’t we, and we’re not quite accurate enough in some of the things we do and we compound errors. On the flip side, we do lots of good things as well. “We get ourselves in lots of good positions and towards the end of the game, we look the stronger team finishing the game but we’re just not quite accurate enough and then there is a couple of calls that don’t go our way and that unfortunately can be the game sometimes.” Advertisement Andrew Porter after Leinster's defeat.Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Cullen admitted that this latest Champions Cup defeat could haunt the group. Having lost the past three finals of this competition, Leinster have now fallen at the semi-final hurdle despite having home advantage against underdogs Northampton. “In the dressing room, it’s a pretty sombre place as you can imagine,” said Cullen. “You set off at the start of the season and you know the final is in Cardiff. Everything is building towards that. “Every team is imagining themselves there in the final. There is so, so much work goes into a team getting to a semifinal…when you lose, it’s pretty horrific and that is the feeling we’re experiencing at the moment because I think it was one of those games… you’d love to have another crack at straight away. “But unfortunately, you don’t get that opportunity and that’s sport.” Cullen said there is a strong feeling among the Leinster players that they didn’t do themselves justice in this semi-final. “What’s the reason for that?” said Cullen. “That’s the great mystery, isn’t it? A couple of things weren’t just quite accurate, we had a tonne of opportunities but just didn’t quite deliver. “But then you can get a little bit jittery. Saying all that, the last four or five minutes of the game, we’re camped on their tryline and we just don’t have the composure to get over the line. “That’s the painful learning for us. There’s nothing we can do about it. Unfortunately, it’s dead and buried now.” Leinster were second best in Dublin.Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO Cullen said he would need another look at that controversial late moment when Josh van der Flier might have scored but for Alex Coles’ illegal intervention on the tryline, with Ross Byrne also seeming to have scored in the ensuing scramble. The reality is that Leinster’s wait for a Champions Cup crown will roll on into another year. Their last title came in 2018. They haven’t won a trophy since 2021, so they will look to end that record by claiming the URC next month. Cullen insisted that he is the right man to lead Leinster again next season as they bid to end their painful chase for a fifth Champions Cup trophy. “I think I am, yeah,” said Cullen. “I believe that I am, yes. “I think we’ve worked hard to try and improve the group year-on-year-on-year and I think the group is very strong right now. As I said, that’s not something that’s just created last week, it’s year-on-year and I think we’ve a stronger group now. “We’ve lost three finals over the last three years, yeah, but I believe we’ve a stronger group now than we’ve had and that’s the way I will continue to approach the day to day in terms of preparing the short term, medium term, long term. “So, yes. And I’m very committed to that as well.” Murray Kinsella View 10 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'We get a little bit jittery' - Cullen regrets Leinster's 'horrific' defeat”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'We get a little bit jittery' - Cullen regrets Leinster's 'horrific' defeat”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. 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