LEINSTER HAVE BEEN in this position before, so painful memories of the province’s barren spell continue to lurk in the back of their minds. Champions now, but it doesn’t take long for great teams to fall off their perch and slip back into the pack.
Three European crowns in four glorious seasons — a truly golden age for the club — was followed by a period of pain and regret which nobody could have foreseen on those indelible, and sun-kissed, days in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London.
It wasn’t until a May day in Bilbao three short months ago that an agonising five-year drought was ended, a fourth European star then augmented by the Pro14 title as a magical season ended with a historic double.
But as Leo Cullen and Johnny Sexton posed patiently alongside the 13 other head coaches and captains at this week’s season launch in Glasgow, there was a dawning realisation that a memorable, and near-perfect, season had been quickly consigned to the history books.
The page has turned, the achievements of last year put to one side, and the minds reset and refocused on finding ways to improve further and remain the pre-eminent force in European rugby.
Getting back to Glasgow for the 2019 Pro14 final, or Newcastle for the Champions Cup showpiece next May, is the ultimate goal and challenge for Cullen’s side, but the focus has had to be narrowed considerably over the pre-season period.
The performances against Montauban and Newcastle in recent weeks have done little to ease Cullen’s early-season nerves, as he prepares for back-to-back away fixtures against Cardiff Blues and Scarlets without his frontline internationals.
“There’s an old saying, that success makes you weak,” Cullen, named Pro14 coach of the year, says.
“After the summer break, you get back to playing games and you see what we did in Montauban and you think ‘ohh’, there are a lot of things we need to fix-up here.
“And we go and play Newcastle and have a heavy defeat, particularly when it’s at home, and it does sting.
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“A lot of people here are talking about last season but for me all I’m thinking about is how do we avoid this [losing] happening again. How are we going to get better? We lost 42-17 at home with a decent enough team as well, so we just need to figure out why does that take place so it doesn’t happen during the season.”
The head coach, although clearly frustrated by what he has seen from his players during the two pre-season hit outs, hopes the group can learn from their mistakes and use the lessons to hit the ground running once the serious business begins.
“The last couple of weeks have been good in terms of focusing the mind so we just need to go about our business and understand what do we do during the week that affects the weekend?
“We need to understand that when we display these actions, it leads to this result and if we display other actions that are less desirable, it gives us a less desirable outcome.
“For us, that’s the way our minds should be focused for the start of the season. Everyone is adding all the time, there is massive optimism within every team but by the end of next weekend, half the teams will have lost and then there’s pressure. And more pressure and more pressure.
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