A Leo Cullen own goal

First topic message reminder :

This popped up on my Facebook feed. This we don’t need

https://mobile.twitter.com/ballsdotie/status/1129782609779798016?s=19

rodders wrote:I honestly thought Cullen was joking when he made the statement one eir sports, so I'm surprised he's repeated it.

I think he's misjudged this one a bit by bringing Celtic and Rangers into this, whether it is tongue in cheek or not - the bitterness and hatred associated with the Old firm derby is something we don't need in rugby.

Unless its a interpro then its gloves off

It was pretty ill judged and making the silly comment about Glasgow and Rangers was unnecessary, it's the kind of unthinking and uninformed comments you get on a forum

Collapse2005 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:I wonder if prior to the Champions cup final if it was held in London Cullen said I hope London Irish fans come out and support us would there be an issue?

Its not his fault that football is sectarian and heavily politicized in Glasgow.

It's not the same thing and you know it, and whilst the state of Scottish sectarianism isn't his fault, he should know that it is, and not make such stupid statements, something like we would like lots of football fans of Irish heritage to come and support us is one thing to define Glasgow rugby fans as "a bunch of Proddys" is entirely a different matter.

What worries me is that some idiots in Glasgow are going to latch on this and we'll see a load of people in Rangers shirts attending to "support" Glasgow and turning this into an Old Firm derby.

Yes it is the same, Cullen has never made any reference to religion at all, you have drawn that conclusion all by yourself. It would be different if Leinster considered themselves a Catholic team or something stupid like that but they do not. It is a secular non political sports team that couldnt care in the slightest what your faith is.

Josh Van Der Flier for example is protestant and none has ever batted an eyelid because no one cares. Jonny Sexton went to a protestant primary school and no one ever mentions it because no one cares.

Cullen isnt remotely interested in sectarianism he is simply appealing for support.

Leinster are assuredly not a sectarian team, I'd hope no rugby teams were, however to say "I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters." in the context of the social and political situation in Scotland is at best naive and possibly something much worse.
There are lots of Rangers supporters in Glasgow of Irish descent as well, why wouldn't he want them supporting Leinster ?
If he'd said we'd like lots of Scots of Irish descent to come and support us then that's perfectly acceptable but to deliberately use the sectarian fault line is unacceptable.

I think what a lot of scottish rugby fans are worried about is one of their teams (glasgow in this case) being associated with sectarianism.

By drawing attention to the sectarian rubbish that exists in Glasgow (and scotland to a wider extent) Cullen has potentially created another opportunity for a certain type of person with a certain type of view to attend a sporting event and starting handing out abuse.

There was already an underlying nervousness from scottish rugby fans about the final being at celtic park (potentially would have been even more worrisome if it was at Ibrox) but it seemed we had gotten away with it without any mention of potential sectarianism until Mr Cullens comments.

These kinds of comments are latched on to - whether its said in jest or not - Rangers fans and Celtic fans can and will use these comments for these own means.

If you want an example of how far sectarianism permeates scottish society I've been out at the pubs in Dumfries and in Inverness on Old firm nights and seen people kicking off on the streets and in the pubs.

The Old Firm. In Dumfries. In Inverness. Places so far removed from Glasgow its laughable and yet the divide there exists. Sectarianism exists in Scottish Society and its a disgusting cancer. If Mr Cullen didn't realise the sensitivity of the subject he's a fool and if he did he really should know better. Much better.

I think the amount of debate on here and the number of tweets on the subject shows why Cullen shouldn't have said it - it detracts from the game.

Yes it may have been intended as a joke but sadly when the press are involved you need to be careful what you say (ask Andy Murray about that one). Of all the things to make a joke of in Glasgow, anything to do with Rangers or Celtic should be well avoided!

Irish Londoner wrote:"I am sure all the Celtic fans will be out supporting Leinster because I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters. Hopefully we will have a big crowd over there."

Normally my support is London Irish, Ulster, the Other Provinces, Ireland, The Lions, whoever's playing England, any NH team against a SH team.

However I'm supporting Glasgow in this one, not because I'm a Rangers supporter (I'm not) but because there's absolutely no place for dragging this bull shot into rugby, especially rugby in Scotland and Ireland, Cullen should be thoroughly ashamed of himself for these comments and I can imagine certain people in Scotland and Northern Ireland making hay out of this.

Interesting

In my 55 years of watching rugby I have only twice come across anything truly moronic at game, at least by fans.
(For the purposes of this I will ignore plain drunken behaviour, like the Saracens fans throwing bottle tops at supporters in Newcastle during the final)
Once was the Leinster Saints game in Cardiff when a couple of Saints fans were out and out racist and giving it large as Saints went in front.
Needless to say they got their come uppance in the second half
I should also add Saints fans are some of the best I have come across and these were just a couple of isolated morons.

The other instance was London Irish when a group of twenty or so were baiting the Ulster fans about not being truly Irish - some of it was pretty caustic
I pointed out to one that Ulster had 11 Irish born players and London Irish only two.
I think he was going to blow a fuse he went so red, but he walked away (I had a couple of rather large, young, friends standing beside me )

I was trying to allude to what some of you are saying, but I was trying to be a little more sensitive about it.

But you are correct, the sensitivity of the subject cannot be ignored, and the person doing the interview needs a word with himself as well for bringing it into it.

Leo Cullen would have been a lot better giving a different answer. But being from the republic, he probably did not realise the issue he could cause with the answer he gave.

Tramptastic wrote:I think what a lot of scottish rugby fans are worried about is one of their teams (glasgow in this case) being associated with sectarianism.

By drawing attention to the sectarian rubbish that exists in Glasgow (and scotland to a wider extent) Cullen has potentially created another opportunity for a certain type of person with a certain type of view to attend a sporting event and starting handing out abuse.

There was already an underlying nervousness from scottish rugby fans about the final being at celtic park (potentially would have been even more worrisome if it was at Ibrox) but it seemed we had gotten away with it without any mention of potential sectarianism until Mr Cullens comments.

These kinds of comments are latched on to - whether its said in jest or not - Rangers fans and Celtic fans can and will use these comments for these own means.

If you want an example of how far sectarianism permeates scottish society I've been out at the pubs in Dumfries and in Inverness on Old firm nights and seen people kicking off on the streets and in the pubs.

The Old Firm. In Dumfries. In Inverness. Places so far removed from Glasgow its laughable and yet the divide there exists. Sectarianism exists in Scottish Society and its a disgusting cancer. If Mr Cullen didn't realise the sensitivity of the subject he's a fool and if he did he really should know better. Much better.

And sadly there seems to be underlying sectarianism tensions growing in Glasgow around Orange marches in particular. Not a nice element of society to be tapping in to

geoff999rugby wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:"I am sure all the Celtic fans will be out supporting Leinster because I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters. Hopefully we will have a big crowd over there."

Normally my support is London Irish, Ulster, the Other Provinces, Ireland, The Lions, whoever's playing England, any NH team against a SH team.

However I'm supporting Glasgow in this one, not because I'm a Rangers supporter (I'm not) but because there's absolutely no place for dragging this bull shot into rugby, especially rugby in Scotland and Ireland, Cullen should be thoroughly ashamed of himself for these comments and I can imagine certain people in Scotland and Northern Ireland making hay out of this.

Interesting

In my 55 years of watching rugby I have only twice come across anything truly moronic at game, at least by fans.
(For the purposes of this I will ignore plain drunken behaviour, like the Saracens fans throwing bottle tops at supporters in Newcastle during the final)
Once was the Leinster Saints game in Cardiff when a couple of Saints fans were out and out racist and giving it large as Saints went in front.
Needless to say they got their come uppance in the second half
I should also add Saints fans are some of the best I have come across and these were just a couple of isolated morons.

The other instance was London Irish when a group of twenty or so were baiting the Ulster fans about not being truly Irish - some of it was pretty caustic
I pointed out to one that Ulster had 11 Irish born players and London Irish only two.
I think he was going to blow a fuse he went so red, but he walked away (I had a couple of rather large, young, friends standing beside me )  

What happened with the Trevor Brennan incident at Ravenhill/Kingspan ? Wasn't that sectarian nonsense ?

LordDowlais wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:"I am sure all the Celtic fans will be out supporting Leinster because I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters. Hopefully we will have a big crowd over there."

Normally my support is London Irish, Ulster, the Other Provinces, Ireland, The Lions, whoever's playing England, any NH team against a SH team.

However I'm supporting Glasgow in this one, not because I'm a Rangers supporter (I'm not) but because there's absolutely no place for dragging this bull shot into rugby, especially rugby in Scotland and Ireland, Cullen should be thoroughly ashamed of himself for these comments and I can imagine certain people in Scotland and Northern Ireland making hay out of this.

Interesting

In my 55 years of watching rugby I have only twice come across anything truly moronic at game, at least by fans.
(For the purposes of this I will ignore plain drunken behaviour, like the Saracens fans throwing bottle tops at supporters in Newcastle during the final)
Once was the Leinster Saints game in Cardiff when a couple of Saints fans were out and out racist and giving it large as Saints went in front.
Needless to say they got their come uppance in the second half
I should also add Saints fans are some of the best I have come across and these were just a couple of isolated morons.

The other instance was London Irish when a group of twenty or so were baiting the Ulster fans about not being truly Irish - some of it was pretty caustic
I pointed out to one that Ulster had 11 Irish born players and London Irish only two.
I think he was going to blow a fuse he went so red, but he walked away (I had a couple of rather large, young, friends standing beside me )  

What happened with the Trevor Brennan incident at Ravenhill/Kingspan ? Wasn't that sectarian nonsense ?

That was in France and was nothing to do with sectarianism, that was the initial claim from Toulouse and I think his uncle but Toulouse quickly backtracked

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/archive/ed-curran/the-travesty-of-toulouse-28450390.html

Irish Londoner wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:I wonder if prior to the Champions cup final if it was held in London Cullen said I hope London Irish fans come out and support us would there be an issue?

Its not his fault that football is sectarian and heavily politicized in Glasgow.

It's not the same thing and you know it, and whilst the state of Scottish sectarianism isn't his fault, he should know that it is, and not make such stupid statements, something like we would like lots of football fans of Irish heritage to come and support us is one thing to define Glasgow rugby fans as "a bunch of Proddys" is entirely a different matter.

What worries me is that some idiots in Glasgow are going to latch on this and we'll see a load of people in Rangers shirts attending to "support" Glasgow and turning this into an Old Firm derby.

Yes it is the same, Cullen has never made any reference to religion at all, you have drawn that conclusion all by yourself. It would be different if Leinster considered themselves a Catholic team or something stupid like that but they do not. It is a secular non political sports team that couldnt care in the slightest what your faith is.

Josh Van Der Flier for example is protestant and none has ever batted an eyelid because no one cares. Jonny Sexton went to a protestant primary school and no one ever mentions it because no one cares.

Cullen isnt remotely interested in sectarianism he is simply appealing for support.

Leinster are assuredly not a sectarian team, I'd hope no rugby teams were, however to say "I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters." in the context of the social and political situation in Scotland is at best naive and possibly something much worse.
There are lots of Rangers supporters in Glasgow of Irish descent as well, why wouldn't he want them supporting Leinster ?
If he'd said we'd like lots of Scots of Irish descent to come and support us then that's perfectly acceptable but to deliberately use the sectarian fault line is unacceptable.

You keep talking about sectarianism but it has nothing to do with sectarianism. He isn't appealing to Celtic fans because they are supposedly catholic he is appealing to them because of their links to Ireland. Cant you see the difference?

Sectarianism is being radically religious, his motives nor Leinster have nothing to do with religion therefore its ludicrous to make this into a religious debate.

Collapse2005 wrote:You keep talking about sectarianism but it has nothing to do with sectarianism. He isn't appealing to Celtic fans because they are supposedly catholic he is appealing to them because of their links to Ireland. Cant you see the difference?

But knowing what the tensions are between the Catholics and the Protestants up there, perhaps his answer was ill informed.

Collapse2005 wrote:Sectarianism is being radically religious, his motives have nothing to do with religion therefore its ludicrous to make this into a religious debate.

We get that, but the interviewer and the interviewee need to be a little more thoughtful in my opinion when they allude to such references.

But dont you see that an association with one team is invariably a political/sectarian statement in Scotland?

The fear is that Glasgow will be known as the "rangers rugby club" and ALL the baggage that that comes with

Yeh he didn't directly say that, and im sure that wasn't his intention, but direct association with Rangers is anti-catholic/protestant which Scottish rugby does not want to be associated with.

Well maybe if you believe that Celtic and Rangers are defined only by their religious links but to me that is the bigger problem. Some people myself included dont like to mix sport religion and politics.

Tramptastic wrote:But dont you see that an association with one team is invariably a political/sectarian statement in Scotland?

The fear is that Glasgow will be known as the "rangers rugby club" and ALL the baggage that that comes with

Yeh he didn't directly say that, and im sure that wasn't his intention, but direct association with Rangers is anti-catholic/protestant which Scottish rugby does not want to be associated with.

It will give the impression that all Glasgow rugby fans are Protestants.

Tramptastic wrote:But dont you see that an association with one team is invariably a political/sectarian statement in Scotland?

The fear is that Glasgow will be known as the "rangers rugby club" and ALL the baggage that that comes with

Yeh he didn't directly say that, and im sure that wasn't his intention, but direct association with Rangers is anti-catholic/protestant which Scottish rugby does not want to be associated with.

Cant you see that it doesnt have to be and probably shouldn't be and the people that insist that these clubs are defined by their religious ties are the problem not the other way around.

I personally just think of Rangers as a football club, I have a friend from Glasgow who is an ardent Rangers fan and I literally couldnt give a ballax who he supports in football.

Im certainly not sleeping with one eye open for fear that a cloven hooved Rangers fan will come get me in the middle of the night. He is a good guy, he has no sense of style and I cant understand what he is barking on about half the time but a good guy.

LordDowlais wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:"I am sure all the Celtic fans will be out supporting Leinster because I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters. Hopefully we will have a big crowd over there."

Normally my support is London Irish, Ulster, the Other Provinces, Ireland, The Lions, whoever's playing England, any NH team against a SH team.

However I'm supporting Glasgow in this one, not because I'm a Rangers supporter (I'm not) but because there's absolutely no place for dragging this bull shot into rugby, especially rugby in Scotland and Ireland, Cullen should be thoroughly ashamed of himself for these comments and I can imagine certain people in Scotland and Northern Ireland making hay out of this.

Interesting

In my 55 years of watching rugby I have only twice come across anything truly moronic at game, at least by fans.
(For the purposes of this I will ignore plain drunken behaviour, like the Saracens fans throwing bottle tops at supporters in Newcastle during the final)
Once was the Leinster Saints game in Cardiff when a couple of Saints fans were out and out racist and giving it large as Saints went in front.
Needless to say they got their come uppance in the second half
I should also add Saints fans are some of the best I have come across and these were just a couple of isolated morons.

The other instance was London Irish when a group of twenty or so were baiting the Ulster fans about not being truly Irish - some of it was pretty caustic
I pointed out to one that Ulster had 11 Irish born players and London Irish only two.
I think he was going to blow a fuse he went so red, but he walked away (I had a couple of rather large, young, friends standing beside me )  

What happened with the Trevor Brennan incident at Ravenhill/Kingspan ? Wasn't that sectarian nonsense ?

Nope and I did say by fans - No fan did anything out of order we just had a player who sunk new depths of stupidity and violence - no excuse

Collapse2005 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:I wonder if prior to the Champions cup final if it was held in London Cullen said I hope London Irish fans come out and support us would there be an issue?

Its not his fault that football is sectarian and heavily politicized in Glasgow.

It's not the same thing and you know it, and whilst the state of Scottish sectarianism isn't his fault, he should know that it is, and not make such stupid statements, something like we would like lots of football fans of Irish heritage to come and support us is one thing to define Glasgow rugby fans as "a bunch of Proddys" is entirely a different matter.

What worries me is that some idiots in Glasgow are going to latch on this and we'll see a load of people in Rangers shirts attending to "support" Glasgow and turning this into an Old Firm derby.

Yes it is the same, Cullen has never made any reference to religion at all, you have drawn that conclusion all by yourself. It would be different if Leinster considered themselves a Catholic team or something stupid like that but they do not. It is a secular non political sports team that couldnt care in the slightest what your faith is.

Josh Van Der Flier for example is protestant and none has ever batted an eyelid because no one cares. Jonny Sexton went to a protestant primary school and no one ever mentions it because no one cares.

Cullen isnt remotely interested in sectarianism he is simply appealing for support.

Leinster are assuredly not a sectarian team, I'd hope no rugby teams were, however to say "I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters." in the context of the social and political situation in Scotland is at best naive and possibly something much worse.
There are lots of Rangers supporters in Glasgow of Irish descent as well, why wouldn't he want them supporting Leinster ?
If he'd said we'd like lots of Scots of Irish descent to come and support us then that's perfectly acceptable but to deliberately use the sectarian fault line is unacceptable.

You keep talking about sectarianism but it has nothing to do with sectarianism. He isn't appealing to Celtic fans because they are supposedly catholic he is appealing to them because of their links to Ireland. Cant you see the difference?

Sectarianism is being radically religious, his motives nor Leinster have nothing to do with religion therefore its ludicrous to make this into a religious debate.

I'm sure Leo meant it to come across a bit tongue in cheek, but in the context of Scotland he should know better. If he wanted Scots of Irish descent to support the Irish team then that's what he should have said. There are lots of Rangers fans of Irish descent, and of course lots of people travel from Ireland to support both Glasgow clubs. Even if he wanted to appeal to Celtic fans why then the extra comment about Rangers fans support Glasgow?
Splitting the request for support down the sectarian divide was plain stupid, and to "double down" by calling Glasgow supporters Rangers supporters is insulting to the rugby fans. People in Scotland are sensitive to these things and this will not be forgotten.

Im guessing the rangers fans that travel to Glasgow to support Rangers would be more likely to support Ulster than Leinster but who knows. Anyway if Rangers fans want to support Leinster they are of course one million percent welcome if you ask me.

Collapse2005 wrote:Im guessing the rangers fans that travel to Glasgow to support Rangers would be more likely to support Ulster than Leinster but who knows. Anyway if Rangers fans want to support Leinster they are of course one million percent welcome if you ask me.

I can tell you that out of everyone I know who would claim to support Rangers I couldn't name one that follows rugby let alone could claim to be an Ulster supporter. Most of the so called Rangers fans I know can only be described as something the rhymes with spigotted grass poles.
There are exceptions to every rule of course and this is only in my experience.

Haha, no doubt the same could be said of some Celtic fans. There was a Jesuit priest in my school who told us in mass that he was a Rangers fan. I think he only did so to highlight the absolutely stupid obsession with supporting Celtic simply because you are meant to be Catholic. I thought it was funny.

There was a contingent of guys in school that insisted everyone had to support Celtic because we were Irish. Never understood it, I couldnt care less about Scottish football.

I don’t think Leo Cullen said that Glasgow Warriors fans support Rangers.

He said the Glasgow players all support Rangers. And that plenty of Irish fans travel over to support Celtic and he’d like to get their support on the day. All said in a joking tone as he probably knows that Celtic fans will be busy supporting their club at Hampden.

Getting slightly off topic here, but part of Glasgow's significant increase in crowd numbers over the last few years has been from football fans who have had enough of the toxic and dangerous environment of Scottish football games, especially those who were taking their kids to games. It's far more appealing to take your kids to a rugby game at Scotstoun than take them to hear some sectarian songs at an old firm game (and sadly these kind of songs are making their way into non-old firm teams more regularly too).

That's happened from both sides of the old firm and beyond.

I also know people who are Ranger/Celtic fans but now rarely go to watch them and go to see Glasgow instead (for the same reasons as highlighted above).

As has been said Glasgow will want to completely and utterly distance themselves from any association whatsoever with Rangers or Celtic.

Collapse2005 wrote:Whats wrong with that?

Cullen could literally say the most tasteless thing in the world - and that would be some posters response.

Never a wrong move in Irish rugby is there.

RugbyFan100 wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:Whats wrong with that?

Cullen could literally say the most tasteless thing in the world - and that would be some posters response.

Never a wrong move in Irish rugby is there.

You mean like tofu?

Pot Hale wrote:I don’t think Leo Cullen said that Glasgow Warriors fans support Rangers.

He said the Glasgow players all support Rangers.  And that plenty of Irish fans travel over to support Celtic and he’d like to get their support on the day.   All said in a joking tone as he probably knows that Celtic fans will be busy supporting their club at Hampden.  

The quote is "I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters." no distinction between the players and supporters. I'm sure (or at least hoping) that Leo was trying to have a wee joke as this sort of thing doesn't really happen in Ireland anymore, but in the context of Glasgow and the Old Firm, it's at best ill judged and at worst provocative.

Anyway, much ado about nothing IMO. Dont expect it to have any impact on the game at all.

Glasgow still marginal favorites for me.

I think Leo has attracted Eddie Jones disease of a misjudged jokey comment that's ill advised and not very well thought out. I doubt he seriously meant it tbh.

Breadvan wrote:I think Leo has attracted Eddie Jones disease of a misjudged jokey comment that's ill advised and not very well thought out. I doubt he seriously meant it tbh.

Maybe so. When Eddie called the Irish scummy I also thought it was harmless. I think the media are just sometimes desperate for a story.

This is the thing, I don't think anyone can believe that Cullen was trying to be anything other than humorous poking a bit of fun at perceived stereotypes. Whilst he got it wrong it's nothing more than an ill-conceived joke and nothing more.
He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy !

Irish Londoner wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:I don’t think Leo Cullen said that Glasgow Warriors fans support Rangers.

He said the Glasgow players all support Rangers.  And that plenty of Irish fans travel over to support Celtic and he’d like to get their support on the day.   All said in a joking tone as he probably knows that Celtic fans will be busy supporting their club at Hampden.  

The quote is  "I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters." no distinction between the players and supporters. I'm sure (or at least hoping) that Leo was trying to have a wee joke as this sort of thing doesn't really happen in Ireland anymore, but in the context of Glasgow and the Old Firm, it's at best ill judged and at worst provocative.

That's how I see it, either Leo is completely naive and oblivious to the level of sectarianism around both of these clubs and this is an innocent error of judgement, or else his is and it is just very tasteless attempt to dilute Glasgows home advantage.

This should be about rugby and who the best team in the pro 14 is, not a proxy Rangers v Celtic match.

If Dan MacFarland had of called for Rangers fans to support Ulster I've no doubt he'd have come in for a lot of criticism indeed.

RDW wrote:Getting slightly off topic here, but part of Glasgow's significant increase in crowd numbers over the last few years has been from football fans who have had enough of the toxic and dangerous environment of Scottish football games, especially those who were taking their kids to games. It's far more appealing to take your kids to a rugby game at Scotstoun than take them to hear some sectarian songs at an old firm game (and sadly these kind of songs are making their way into non-old firm teams more regularly too).

Yes I have heard that as well, more and more people are getting fed up of the sectarian nonsense and are jumping on the Glasgow rugby bandwagon, and long my that continue.

This is why I understand the Scottish fans being a little bit peeved with Leo Cullen's comments, when fans are trying to distance themselves from it beyond the wall.

Comments like that could potentially bring in the same problems for the rugby fans, but on the bright side, Glasgow only has one pro rugby team, so there is no need for the divide.

It's the same throughout rugby though, home and away fans are never segregated like they are in football.

Nothing to see here

Irish Londoner wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:I don’t think Leo Cullen said that Glasgow Warriors fans support Rangers.

He said the Glasgow players all support Rangers.  And that plenty of Irish fans travel over to support Celtic and he’d like to get their support on the day.   All said in a joking tone as he probably knows that Celtic fans will be busy supporting their club at Hampden.  

The quote is  "I believe Glasgow are all Rangers supporters." no distinction between the players and supporters. I'm sure (or at least hoping) that Leo was trying to have a wee joke as this sort of thing doesn't really happen in Ireland anymore, but in the context of Glasgow and the Old Firm, it's at best ill judged and at worst provocative.

Incorrect.   During the post-match conference, Cullen says:
"Yeah, it's going to be a tough one. Off to Celtic Park, hopefully, we'll have a good crowd of Leinster supporters over there.  Glasgow Rugby players all support Rangers, I've been told.(with a big grin on his face) So everyone in Glasgow should be supporting us, the Celtic fans for sure, so hopefully we'll have a good crowd over there.  
A journalist then asks about crowd support, saying there's plenty of fans over in Glasgow who won't be supporting Leinster, Cullen says:  "Yeah, there's thousands of Irish fans go over to Glasgow to watch Celtic play, eh virtually every weekend, and eh you know, hopefully we'll have a few of those fans next week, because Glasgow Rugby as I said is probably more Rangers supporters over there than Celtic ones."

From 3:15 in - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6H9S0ZY

On a side note, Kyle Styen commented after the Leinster semi-final game about going to Parkhead, "“I’ve never been to see a game at Parkhead. I’ve seen it from outside but it will be interesting to see if we get any time there this week. I’m not sure if any of the boys in the squad are Celtic supporters. I know Rory Hughes is a big Rangers man so it will be a strange one for him."

Well I know Stuart Hogg is a Hibs fan so he's defniitely not Rangers!

TBH a lot of the squad probably don't care about Scottish football - especially because only a small number are actually from Glasgow. The ones that are probably support Partick Thistle and Ayr United and teams like that.

This all really does seem to be blown out of all proportions...

RDW wrote:Well I know Stuart Hogg is a Hibs fan so he's defniitely not Rangers!

TBH a lot of the squad probably don't care about Scottish football - especially because only a small number are actually from Glasgow. The ones that are probably support Partick Thistle and Ayr United and teams like that.

Yes - interesting that Steyn commented as he did though.

eirebilly wrote:This all really does seem to be blown out of all proportions...

You got it in one, Billy.

Pot Hale wrote:

RDW wrote:Well I know Stuart Hogg is a Hibs fan so he's defniitely not Rangers!

TBH a lot of the squad probably don't care about Scottish football - especially because only a small number are actually from Glasgow. The ones that are probably support Partick Thistle and Ayr United and teams like that.

Yes - interesting that Steyn commented as he did though.

To be fair it was probably before the Cullen interview was done.

eirebilly wrote:This all really does seem to be blown out of all proportions...

Not really surprising in this day and age unfortunately. It's amazing that calling on Celtic fans for support is seen as sectarian, especially when Celtic as a club and their fans have always welcomed protestant players and managers to the club.

RugbyFan100 wrote:Nothing to see here

The only European silverware in Celtic's trophy cabinet for over fifty years.

RDW wrote:Well I know Stuart Hogg is a Hibs fan so he's defniitely not Rangers!

TBH a lot of the squad probably don't care about Scottish football - especially because only a small number are actually from Glasgow. The ones that are probably support Partick Thistle and Ayr United and teams like that.

Maybe Cullen should ask him to support Leinster too.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

eirebilly wrote:This all really does seem to be blown out of all proportions...

Not really surprising in this day and age unfortunately. It's amazing that calling on Celtic fans for support is seen as sectarian, especially when Celtic as a club and their fans have always welcomed protestant players and managers to the club.

I suppose it's all a matter of perspective. The Old Firm rivalry, and associated sectarian bigotry, is a blight on the country - there is a reason it's referred to as Scotland's Shame. I very much doubt that Cullen meant to cause any offence, but by stating that the Warriors players are predominately Rangers fans, and encouraging Celtic fans to roll in behind Leinster, he tapped into a divisive and emotive subject in the west of Scotland, as a means of garnering more support.

I do think it was an unintentional mistake, but I don't think people criticising Cullen are wide of the mark. Imagine a Munster v Ulster final, and McFarland had encouraged Rangers fans to get behind Ulster?

Anyway, that's my two pence - i'll stick to commentating on the game from here on in.

I wouldnt blame anyone for wanting to support Ulster over Munster.

EST wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

eirebilly wrote:This all really does seem to be blown out of all proportions...

Not really surprising in this day and age unfortunately. It's amazing that calling on Celtic fans for support is seen as sectarian, especially when Celtic as a club and their fans have always welcomed protestant players and managers to the club.

I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.  The Old Firm rivalry, and associated sectarian bigotry, is a blight on the country - there is a reason it's referred to as Scotland's Shame.  I very much doubt that Cullen meant to cause any offence, but by stating that the Warriors players are predominately Rangers fans, and encouraging Celtic fans to roll in behind Leinster, he tapped into a divisive and emotive subject in the west of Scotland, as a means of garnering more support.

I do think it was an unintentional mistake, but I don't think people criticising Cullen are wide of the mark.  Imagine a Munster v Ulster final, and McFarland had encouraged Rangers fans to get behind Ulster?  

Anyway, that's my two pence - i'll stick to commentating on the game from here on in.

It'll be funny to see the Celtic fans supporting a team at Parkhead who are wearing the blue jerseys.

Any of the Scottish based members, have the media up there picked up on this?

EST wrote: Imagine a Munster v Ulster final, and McFarland had encouraged Rangers fans to get behind Ulster?  

Given the make up of the Ulster team and our fan basis it would lead to his departure

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

eirebilly wrote:This all really does seem to be blown out of all proportions...

Not really surprising in this day and age unfortunately. It's amazing that calling on Celtic fans for support is seen as sectarian, especially when Celtic as a club and their fans have always welcomed protestant players and managers to the club.

Rugby fan from Ireland doesn’t understand the ongoing blight of sectarianism in Scottish football; tells Scots, from his home across the sea, that they are making a fuss over nothing.

Irelandsplaining?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47402200

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-supporters-target-steve-clarke-16169401

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47750125

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-47767055

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4075938/scotland-sectarian-graffiti-celtic-rangers-huns-glasgow/

Oh Leo, you wag!

Don Alfonso wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47402200

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-supporters-target-steve-clarke-16169401

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47750125

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-47767055

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4075938/scotland-sectarian-graffiti-celtic-rangers-huns-glasgow/

Oh Leo, you wag!

Dont see what any of those have to do with looking for support from Celtic fans. Its not as if asking for support condones sectarianism.

Whats a wag?

Football does seem to have a lot of problems forsome reason. In Argentina in their first division there is a flat out ban on away fans for all games. Only home fans get to watch each game. Kind of sad really.