Unsurprisingly, Leo Cullen was unable to shed much light on the lower leg injury which Jack Boyle sustained in Leinster’s 34-23 win over Connacht in front of a record attendance at the redeveloped Dexcom Stadium.
The Leinster prop is the most senior loosehead in Ireland’s Six Nations squad named by Andy Farrell last Wednesday following the calf and leg injuries which have sidelined Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy indefinitely. The Irish squad will travel to Portugal on Monday morning but Boyle now looks a grave doubt for Ireland’s opening match against Paris next Thursday week.
“It didn’t look great,” admitted Cullen. “You saw it yourself. It looks like he’ll be out for a while though, unfortunately. I’ll find out, let’s get the exact specifics on Monday. Unfortunately that’s part of the game. We will see how he is at the start of the week and get an exact update for you. Nobody likes to see that.”
It also leaves Leinster light on numbers, although Jerry Cahir, plucked from the AIL on a short-term contract, again held up impressively in his hour on the field, while Cullen confirmed that the uncapped academy and Clontarf loosehead Alex Usamov was part of the travelling squad in Galway as a non-playing reserve.
Cullen has been to Galway many times as a player and coach over the years, and reflecting on this landmark game he said: “We knew it was going to be a huge occasion because it’s been in the calendar here for a long time.
“We know we’re coming down to a pretty hostile environment against a team that’s going to be hugely motivated against a lot of lads that know the group well. Even Stu [Lancaster] would know the group well as well. So we knew it was going to be challenging.
After a tough start to the season, this was also a 10th win in a row.
“The group was getting a bit of flak maybe at the start of the season because we’re missing a lot of players and we just take it on the chin. But they’ve worked hard throughout this period. It’s a credit to the characteristics that these guys show every day because I see them working hard.”
“It’s great when you come away from home, hostile environments, all the rest, and you get a bonus-point win.
“Connacht started the game a million miles an hour, we started the game well, but they were flying into everything on both sides of the ball, like we thought they would. Credit to them for the way they went about the game, and same at the start of the second half.”
Cian Prendergast attempts to charge down Harry Byrne’s kick. Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho
As for Lancaster, he could scarcely conceal his disappointment after Connacht had charged into a 20-13 lead early in the second half only to see the game slip awa on the back of two tries in quick succession.
“It feels disappointing. Particularly, I thought we played really well in the first half and went in good shape at half-time, albeit it was 13-13.
“The second half was a big moment but then the game changed in, probably five minutes, but it was two tries in a very short space of time and ultimately that cost us.
“That’s something I’ve spoken about in the changing room, something I’ve spoken about in the change room over the last few games, really, where that consistent application of doing the fundamentals consistently under pressure for the full 80 minutes is the step we need to take as a team.
“It was a privilege to be part of the occasion and I thought the boys in the week leading into it, everyone at Connacht Rugby put so much effort into it, so it’s absolutely gut-wrenching to not come away with a win.
“Obviously you’ve got to give Leinster credit for nailing those big moments when they happened.”
Lancaster praised his players for the “disciplined energy” they brought to the game.
“There was a penalty we gave away which led to [RG] Snyman’s try and obviously then another soft moment where Charlie Tector just runs through and scores and that’s the game, really. The game changes in that five-minute period.
“We’ve given ourselves a big challenge now to get in the top eight. We’ve played nine games and we’ve got nine to go.
Obviously, as I said to the boys, it’s not the end, it’s the beginning.
“The stand opening with the home games we have to come, but we have to translate that emotion and energy into accuracy and do it consistently for 80 minutes. That’s the step we need to take because clearly when you’re playing, I’m looking at the Leinster team and the Munster team, the Ulster team, it was the same in those games as well. That’s the step we need to take.”
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