Jennings: defence starts anywhere in the pitch
The open-side flanker had to make do with an unusual role on the blind side of the scrum after Stephen Keogh was ruled out of Saturday’s clash, and Keith Gleeson filled the open side slot, with Jennings reverting to six. It didn’t matter, as he, Jamie Heaslip and Gleeson had a profound impact.
“It was nice,” said Jennings, “We, as forwards, were up against some seriously good players; we had to perform in all of the set piece areas and do a lot more than that to keep ourselves in with a chance of winning.
“I’d like to think we did pretty well in all areas.”
Jennings admitted that good defence was the key to victory: “A lot of people think that you only have to defend near your own goal line, but defence starts anywhere in the pitch.
“I thought we put them under pressure inside their own area of the pitch and everyone deserves credit for that. There weren’t too many missed tackles, and Leicester became a bit frustrated when we kept on knocking them back.”
The Leinster captain Brian O’Driscoll admitted it was tough but praised his troops for “an 80-minute effort.”
It was, he said, the best possible start against a quality team: “Even though we were playing at home, a lot of people had us written off. I thought our defence was absolutely superb from one to 15; there were some massive hits.
“We felt comfortable enough at half time having played against the wind. After that it was a question of having to hit the front and then playing keep ball.
“Defensively, we knew we were going to have to meet them on the gain line because when they get over that they’re extremely dangerous. We were probably lucky not to have conceded a try early in the second half, but our defence held firm and that is a tribute to just about everyone in the squad.”
The all-important second half try was, conceded O’Driscoll, straight out of the training manual.
“Teams will always look at how opponents defend and try to devise ways of breaking them down. It was a rehearsed move; we actually tried but aborted it in the first half because the circumstances weren’t right and I think I had to take the ball up myself.
“We had a bit more space on the second occasion and it worked for us; these are things that either go with you or against you, but yes, it was a good try and it was well finished by Shaggy (Shane Horgan).”
But O’Driscoll admitted that the victory would be dedicated to the former Leicester pair Leo Cullen and Jennings.
“They were clearly pumped up for the game, and it was good to see them back in our ranks.”
Jennings insisted: “I had a great time in Leicester, but playing for Leinster is all about the future.”
And the forward sounded words of warning for the jubilant — and noisy — Leinster fans when he suggested they should not expect miracles.
“We’re only after winning one game; you would be expected to win all home games because you don’t have a chance unless you do.
“Next week against Toulouse is a massive game; we know that and we have to be level headed about what we achieved. We will enjoy what we did against a great club today, but we know we have to play even better against another great club next week.”
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