Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has taken aim at English and French clubs on the eve of the European Champions Cup for racking up massive debts to aid their assault on silverware at home and in Europe.
Cullen, normally a more reserved figure in dealing with the media, appeared to be quite downbeat on the chances of the Irish provinces competing in Europe this season.
Leinster fielded 21 homegrown players in their victory over Munster on Saturday. The four provinces are hampered by the IRFU's strict rules on the number of foreign players allowed. This weekend's opponent Montpellier have added Ruan Pienaar, former All Black Aaron Cruden, and French number eight Louis Picamoles to their ranks
The three-time Heineken Cup winner has questioned the sustainability of their finances as reported by Ruaidhri O'Connor of the Irish Independent,
Saracens, you see their accumulated losses: £5m, £5m, £6m, £5m, £4m... This is while they are at the top of the European game. The model is different. How do you compete with that? We don't compete the same (way)
We have our way of doing things, and that's a sustainable model that we have. We can't control what other teams do, we can't accumulate €50m of losses. That's not the way it works.
I think Saracens have this thing called making memories, but it's making memories and racking up a huge debt at the same time.
Leinster start the year as Ireland's best hope of success in Europe. They supply the national team with the bulk of players, and unexpectedly reached the semi-final last season where they lost 27-22 to Clermont in Bordeaux.
Montpellier will be a completely different proposition to the side Leinster faced last season. They sit second in the French Top 14 and are now coached by former Scotland head coach Vern Cotter.
Leinster take on Montpellier at the RDS this Saturday at 1pm.
Read all of the quotes from Leo Cullen here.
