Leo Cullen promises Leinster will 'show character and go again' after latest damaging defeat
The province had to travel to South Africa for Saturday's URC semi-final and they lost a close encounter at altitude to Jake White's Bulls
Leinster boss Leo Cullen has vowed that the Blues will regroup and go again after their latest hammer blow play-off loss.
Pushed out of the top seedings late in the regular season when their focus was on the Champions Cup final that they subsequently lost, the province had to travel to South Africa for Saturday's URC semi-final and they lost a close encounter at altitude to Jake White's Bulls.
The crucial moments came in the last quarter when Leinster put together a 23-phase attack but were turned over - and when Bulls winger Seargal Peterson soared above Ciarán Frawley to score his second and his team's third try of the afternoon at their formidable Loftus Versfeld home.
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Packed with a team full of Ireland stars who will return to Pretoria for Test duty in two weeks, Leinster had been fortunate to go in at the break 10-7 down after losing the territory game - the Bulls used their kicking game to dangerous effect.
But Ross Byrne levelled the game with 20 minutes remaining from a penalty - after he had converted a Caelan Doris try - only for Petersen to strike with a superb opportunist effort to clinch a famous victory and book his team's place in the final next weekend.
For Leinster, there is more regret and heartbreak to deal with at the end of a third trophyless season on the spin. "Everyone wants to win trophies here, the club is hugely ambitious," said a disappointed Cullen.
"We’ve lost in a final to Toulouse and we’ve lost in a semi-final away here to the Bulls - two clubs that are steeped in history and have winning cultures as well and we want to be up there with them. We will build and we’ll go again. Show some character.
"I think the group showed a lot of resolve to come back from where they had been over the last couple of years so it's disappointing to be left with the same outcome, which is a one-score loss in a URC semi-final. It doesn’t get any closer than that.
"For us as a group, we just need to learn and I think when they get across the line, they will be able to kick on from there. We just need to work hard at trying to get across the line in the first place."
Co-captain James Ryan was close to tears afterwards as he reflected on the outcome. "It was Test match intensity and yeah, look, we're gutted to come away on the wrong side of the result," said Ryan. "It's knockout rugby, it's all about small margins, I think. This team probably knows that better than most and we're gutted."
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