Quizzed on Leinster future, Leo Cullen takes swipe at media

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has taken a pop at the media as speculation around his future at the province continues.

Cullen's one-year contract with Leinster will expire at the end of the current season and some have speculated that the 45-year-old will be leaving the province. Cullen has lost his right-hand man Stuart Lancaster to Racing 92 and now Cullen has been linked with various clubs, not least his Gallagher Premiership alma mater, Leicester Tigers.

Cullen signed a rolling year contract with the IRFU and Leinster Rugby in 2021, with the option to extend for a further season, which he did in February of 2022.  With the one-year anniversary of that date approaching, reports have emerged suggesting that he has signed a two-year deal with Leinster.

Cullen branded the reports around his future as mere 'speculation' and described the media as being in a "sad state of affairs".

“Time will tell," Cullen told The Irish Daily Mirror at a press conference on Friday. "That’s all speculation, we’ve lots of contractual stuff going on in the background.

"We’re very much in the here and the now. We’ve had a very busy period over Christmas, it would be amazing to put in a big performance at the RDS, then we’ll have a little bit of time for reflection after that.

"Just because something is written in the paper doesn't mean it's always true, does it? That's the unfortunate, sad state of affairs with media, isn't it?

"But that's just speculation. So papers can write speculation, can't they - they don't always necessarily have to be factually correct."

Despite no official news on his future, reading between the lines, Cullen has no intention of leaving the Irish heavyweights.

The Wicklow native, who won 221 caps for Leinster and was captain of three Heineken Cup-winning squads, was appointed head coach at the start of the 2015/16 season and has led the team to a Champions Cup and four PRO14/URC titles in his time in charge.