Leo Cullen

Leo Francis Matthew Cullen (born 9 January 1978) is an Irish rugby coach and former professional rugby union player. He played at lock for Leinster Rugby and Ireland. He was appointed coach of Leinster rugby on 19 August 2015.

Early life and education Cullen was educated firstly at Willow Park which is the junior school to Blackrock College where he attended secondary school. He then studied Agricultural Science at University College Dublin. He graduated in 1999 with a BA in Economics.

Cullen won a Leinster Schools Senior Cup medal in 1995 as well as 1996, when Blackrock beat a Newbridge College team which included Geordan Murphy.

Playing career Club playing career Cullen began his career with Leinster by representing them at schoolboy level in 1995 before moving on to their U20 team where he won seven caps. He also made five appearances on the 'A' team and finally debuted during the interprovincial and Heineken Cup matches of the 1998/99 season. He was also on the losing side in the 2007 Heineken Cup final, when London Wasps defeated Leicester at Twickenham Stadium. He led Leinster to success in their first ever Heineken Cup in 2009, beating Leicester in the final. He also captained Leinster in 2011 to another Heineken Cup victory, and in 2012 became the first person to captain a team to three Heineken Cup victories. He retired in May 2014 after winning the 2014 Pro12 Grand Final. He became the 100th man to captain Ireland, against Scotland on 6 August 2011.

International analysis by opposition Opposition Played Win Loss Draw Tries Points Win % 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 Career 32 25 7 0 0 0 %

Coaching career After retiring from playing in 2014, Cullen remained at Leinster as a forwards coach. He then became head coach in 2015.

His coaching colleague, Stuart Lancaster, has described Cullen's strengths as "very high integrity... very good leadership qualities... unbelievable work ethic... very good on the managerial side of things." He is also regarded as effective in bringing out the strengths of coaching colleagues.

Cullen became the first person to win the top European Rugby trophy as a player and a coach, when his Leinster side defeating Racing 92 in the Champions Cup final in May 2018, having already won it three times as a player.

On 22 June 2026, Cullen announced that he would leave his role as head coach of Leinster at the end of the 2026-27 season.

Honours Leinster European Rugby Champions Cup: 3 (2009, 2011, 2012) European Challenge Cup: 1 (2013) United Rugby Championship: 4 (2002, 2008, 2013, 2014)

Leicester Premiership Rugby: 1 (2007) Anglo-Welsh Cup: 1 (2007)

Leinster (as coach) European Rugby Champions Cup: 1 (2018) United Rugby Championship: 6 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2025, 2026) Irish Shield 4 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

Individual URC Coach of the Year: 2 (2018, 2022) URC Chairman's Award: 1 (2014) URC Team of the Year: 2 (2008, 2010)

UCD UCD Alumni Award in Sport 2021