Leo Cullen Makes Johnny Sexton & Sean O’Brien Revelation

Leo Cullen has revealed that his decision to withdraw Johnny Sexton and Sean O’Brien at half-time today was not down to injury.

Leinster suffered a  22-16 defeat to Montepellier in their round two clash, with Cullen revealing that the star duo were not happy with his decision.

The Leinster coach decided to replace the Lions pair at the interval, with Joey Carbery and Jordi Murphy coming on to the field.

O’Brien was making his first appearance since February, while Sexton was an injury doubt all week after missing the opening Champions Cup game against Castres with a hamstring strain.

Cullen said the call to remove the key duo was in part down to the heavy pitch and said that they were unhappy to be replaced.

“Him and Seany, the two of them are coming back in. We’re making assessments all week on those guys on what’s suitable and not putting guys at unnecessary risk,” Cullen said.

“The two of them came through and they were p***ed off coming off at half-time because we made the call.

When asked about Isa Nacewa taking over kicking duties, Cullen had this to say,

“The kicking is really between Isa and Johnny, those two are bouncing off each other all the time. I don’t make the call on who kicks. those two guys have a ton of experience and if Isa steps up and says he’s happy, Johnny goes ‘yeah’.”