{"id":103330,"date":"2023-12-16T23:26:44","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T23:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/?p=103330"},"modified":"2023-12-16T23:26:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T23:26:44","slug":"leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&#8217;s side recover from sluggish start to secure victory with spirited second half display<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Leinster overcame Sale despite a disappointing first half performance\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sale made 12 changes but Leinster still found it a challenge to overcome them\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A power-packed second half saved Leinster\u2019s blushes on Saturday night, as they shook off the gutsy challenge of Sale.<\/p>\n<p>The visitors made 12 changes from the side that hammered Stade Francais in their opening Champions Cup game last weekend, and the expectation was that a full-strength Leinster would make short work of Alex Sanderson\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p>But it was Leo Cullen who was surely the more worried coach at the interval as Sale took advantage of Leinster sluggishness to lead by two.<\/p>\n<p>It left the sold-out attendance of 18,600 at the RDS struggling to get into the festive spirit, but Leinster eventually came right to run out comfortable winners.<\/p>\n<p>While the final score leaves Leinster looking likely to secure a home tie in the last 16, there was enough rust in their display to leave Cullen and senior coach Jacques Nienaber with plenty to work on over Christmas.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/16\/20\/79042327-0-image-a-4_1702758705003.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jamison Gibson-Park scores a try for Leinster during their victory against Sale Sharks<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/16\/20\/79042255-0-image-m-3_1702758485982.jpg\" height=\"631\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Leinster head coach Leo Cullen will be aware that there is a lot for his team to work on<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/16\/20\/79042251-0-image-a-1_1702758453261.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tom Curtis (right) scored a try for Sale but his side ended up being beaten by Leinster<\/p>\n<p>Sale had charged into a 13-3 lead helped by a Connor Doherty try, and after Leinster laid siege to the Sale line and came up short, it took a Josh van der Flier score just before half-time to peg the visitors\u2019 lead back to two at the interval.<\/p>\n<p>The second half was a very different story as tries from Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Cian Healy and Ryan Baird saw the Sale challenge off but late tries from Tommy Taylor and Tom Curtis were due reward for their efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12872363\/Leinster-37-27-Sale-Leo-Cullens.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&#8217;s side recover from sluggish start to secure victory with spirited second half display Leinster overcame Sale despite a disappointing first half performance\u00a0 Sale made 12 changes but Leinster still found it a challenge to overcome them\u00a0 A power-packed second half saved Leinster\u2019s blushes on Saturday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&amp;apos;s side recover from sluggish start - crossfitsugarland.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&amp;apos;s side recover from sluggish start - crossfitsugarland.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&#8217;s side recover from sluggish start to secure victory with spirited second half display Leinster overcame Sale despite a disappointing first half performance\u00a0 Sale made 12 changes but Leinster still found it a challenge to overcome them\u00a0 A power-packed second half saved Leinster\u2019s blushes on Saturday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"crossfitsugarland.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-16T23:26:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/16\/20\/79042327-0-image-a-4_1702758705003.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/\",\"name\":\"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start - crossfitsugarland.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-16T23:26:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-16T23:26:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ade595e9f5f4361f49486c04d945990c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rugby\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/category\/rugby\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/\",\"name\":\"crossfitsugarland.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ade595e9f5f4361f49486c04d945990c\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/846c117acdc0b8f1ee6e558998ba21d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/846c117acdc0b8f1ee6e558998ba21d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start - crossfitsugarland.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start - crossfitsugarland.com","og_description":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&#8217;s side recover from sluggish start to secure victory with spirited second half display Leinster overcame Sale despite a disappointing first half performance\u00a0 Sale made 12 changes but Leinster still found it a challenge to overcome them\u00a0 A power-packed second half saved Leinster\u2019s blushes on Saturday","og_url":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/","og_site_name":"crossfitsugarland.com","article_published_time":"2023-12-16T23:26:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/16\/20\/79042327-0-image-a-4_1702758705003.jpg"}],"author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/","url":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/","name":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start - crossfitsugarland.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-16T23:26:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-16T23:26:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ade595e9f5f4361f49486c04d945990c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/rugby\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rugby","item":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/category\/rugby\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen&apos;s side recover from sluggish start"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/","name":"crossfitsugarland.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ade595e9f5f4361f49486c04d945990c","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/846c117acdc0b8f1ee6e558998ba21d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/846c117acdc0b8f1ee6e558998ba21d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103331,"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103330\/revisions\/103331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossfitsugarland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}