Cheika keeps high flyers grounded

THE Heineken Cup group stages aren’t meant to be like this. No-one is meant to approach the exit marked ‘quarter-finals’ until at least round five, particularly in a group with such high profile names.

Yet, here Leinster are, two games into the competition and with their foot on the throat of Pool Two.

Two wins, 10 points, the same number of tries and, thanks to Edinburgh’s first win in France on Saturday, Wasps and Castres, their two main challengers for top spot, are scrambling desperately for ballast just as the European competition is mothballed for seven weeks.