This isn’t the team that Joe Schmidt envisaged naming against Samoa.

Here’s how the players rated in the aftermath of a hugely disappointing result and performance for Ireland in Shizuoka.

It’s easy to forget just how big this weekend will be for the players.

Josh van der Flier has backed “calm, controlled” Ross Byrne to take his Twickenham start for Ireland in his stride tomorrow, just as the fly-half hit the ground running with Leinster.

Josh van der Flier admits he was a bundle of nerves ahead of Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final win over Munster.

Johann van Graan has repeated his desire to bring in additional staff to the Munster coaching ticket but refused to comment on media reports linking the province to Wales and Lions attack coach Rob Howley.

Josh van der Flier says Dan Leavy’s horror injury has helped him to put his own bad luck into perspective.

Four stunning quarter-finals, three of which were decided by a single score, made for a sensational weekend of Champions Cup rugby.

Josh van der Flier’s season looks to be over after confirmation that the Leinster and Ireland flanker has had surgery on a groin injury.

Three years and change since Richie McCaw quit being the ruination of many an opponent’s rucks and, while the New Zealander didn’t make many friends doing what he did, he continues to influence the breakdown.

There will come a point soon, after the Six Nations is done for another 12 months and Leinster’s elite return to the day job for another battle on two fronts, that the question of hunger will surface.

The moment Leinster fought tooth and nail to avoid late last season, the one they dreaded, will come to pass this Saturday evening if Joey Carbery gets the nod to start for Munster against his old club at the Aviva Stadium.

Second-half tries from Garry Ringrose and Sean Cronin did the damage for Leinster in their 20-3 Guinness PRO14 derby win over 14-man Connacht at the Sportsground.

Leinster’s defence of their Champions Cup title is set for an early boost with the expected returns from injury of an influential back row trio comprising of Sean O’Brien, Josh van der Flier, and Dan Leavy.

It is a good job Josh van der Flier is a glass-half-full type of character. Only someone of a positive and optimistic disposition could view sitting in the stands in Bilbao this weekend as a sign of progress.

Josh van der Flier may have joined a growing band of brothers from the back row union in casualty, but CJ Stander is certain that Ireland’s resources in the department remain adequately stocked.

Josh van der Flier lost out on many a ready-made headline when his career path took him into the back row and not the back three but the 24-year-old remains well able to make a name for himself.

Apologies if the focus on Leinster’s strength in depth is beginning to wear thin but it is a theme that is impossible to ignore given the side Leo Cullen named yesterday.

Leinster 22 Exeter Chiefs 17: There are any number of arbitrary ways to measure a team’s progress, but it seemed the obvious thing to think back to Leinster’s semi-final loss to Clermont Auvergne last April as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday evening.

Leinster overcame the reigning English champions and league leaders for the second time in six days this evening.

Benetton 10 Leinster 36: Leinster had to wait eight months to see James Lowe touch down on Irish soil after the province announced him as their marquee signing for the season.

Garry Ringrose’s first start of the season and a debut for Kiwi flyer James Lowe give an exciting edge to the Leinster backline for the Guinness PRO14 trip to Treviso’s Benetton Rugby (3:30pm Irish time).

Leinster weathered the huge hits and the heavy bruising from Montpellier’s giants on Saturday – but the five points are what will leave the biggest mark after a winning start to their Champions Cup challenge.

Josh van der Flier has already ticked an amount of boxes in his nascent rugby career.

It took a while in coming, but this was a more than decent start to the new Guinness Pro14 season for Leo Cullen’s Leinster as they emerged deserved winners over the Dragons.

Japan 13

Ulster 17 Leinster 13: Thankfully it wasn’t all about the game itself on a bright summer’s day at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday. At least two stand-out moments came from the two Ulster players who were bidding farewell to a venue they had graced on numerous occasions.

Leinster 31 Glasgow Warriers 30: A youthful Leinster side had to deal with a second-half Glasgow power surge and a floodlight failure, the latter coming only 90 seconds out from the final whistle, before securing a 10th straight Guinness PRO12 win last night.

Ireland flew into Edinburgh last night with what head coach Joe Schmidt described as a “quiet confidence” that the players he will send into the RBS 6 Nations fray at Murrayfield tomorrow can ignore the hype surrounding Scotland and continue their winning ways.

It has been quite the year for Irish rugby and no better way to finish it than by making a little more history at the Aviva Stadium this evening with a victory over Australia.

Josh van der Flier could have kept mum but that would have meant surrendering to 36 hours or so of mental torture until the inevitable moment when Joe Schmidt stopped the tape and zeroed in on his botched offload deep in the New Zealand 22.

Here's how we rated the players at tonight's clash at the Aviva.

Leinster 31 Ospreys 19: Watching Leinster sure ain’t dull this season.

Joey Carbery may have learned a harsh lesson in Glasgow last week when his intercepted pass gifted a Glasgow try and turned the game on its head, but Josh van der Flier knows a thing or two about rookie errors at the highest level.