No revenge mission for Cullen's Leinster in Champions Cup final rerun

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said on Friday revenge is not on his mind as they face La Rochelle again in this weekend's Champions Cup final.

The Irish province missed out on a joint-record fifth title in last May's defeat to the French side in Marseille but this Saturday's game will be held at their home city's Lansdowne Road.

"It's not about that," Cullen told reporters.

"It's about being at home and it's about delivering a performance in front of your own fans.

"Hopefully we'll have that sea of blue there, that's enough motivation for us," he added.

We have brought the #SeaOfBlue all over Europe. ??

Edinburgh 2009
Cardiff 2011
London 2012
Bilbao 2018

Tomorrow, the #SeaOfBlue hits Dublin. ??#LEIvSR #HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/bv3fwov6Oe
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) May 19, 2023

The final of the Champions Cup, with South African teams included this season for the first time, has been held in the Irish capital on four occasions.

In 1999, Leinster failed to reach the knockout stages as fellow Irish side Ulster beat Colomiers in the final. In 2003 they lost in the semifinals, and a decade later they were knocked out in the pool stage.

"It's great to be here, it's a real honour," Cullen said.

"Pressure's a good thing. It's the most positive pressure we can have," he added.

This weekend's match will also mark Stuart Lancaster's final game as Leinster coach while veteran fly-half Johnny Sexton will be missing through injury, before an expected retirement after the Rugby World Cup, starting in September.

"Johnny's been an amazing contributor to the team over such a long period of time," Cullen said of the 37-year-old Ireland fly-half.

"Stuart has done seven years with the club, an amazing servant in terms of time, commitment, energy, everything.

"The two guys will leave a great mark on a lot of us, hopefully they’ll have a good send-off tomorrow," he added.