Cheika playing down victory

MICHAEL CHEIKA, the Leinster manager, did all he could to keep a lid on the massive expectation sure to surround his side after Saturday’s demolition job of Munster at the RDS.

They have a crucial Heineken Cup assignment with London Irish, the Guinness Premiership table toppers, at the RDS on Friday night and the Aussie appears to doubt whether his team is capable of putting two big performances back-to-back when they are most needed. Even getting him to praise the extremely high standards his team reached was far from easy.

“We got ourselves in the right position to take advantage of a few good bounces,” he allowed. “We were sharp in our speed, we got two really good tries and we were a little more creative. We looked to attack and that’s the reason why we got on the front foot.

“And still, with 10 minutes to go, you think they can come back and beat you. That’s the kind of side they are. You have to close every door on them or they’ll be back in. I think they’re a very good side and they’ll be back. I think the score flattered us a little bit but a lot of things clicked and the ball bounced our way.”

While well able to douse any signs of overconfidence in his own camp, he is equally at home when talking up the opposition prior to the London Irish game. Cheika travelled to Stockport to watch their game against Sale Sharks and was hugely impressed at how a team that much prefers to play the expansive game, “dogged out” a win in very poor conditions.

“They must be favourites for the Guinness Premiership,” he stated, although there are seven months of the season still to be played.

Ask Cheika for individual stars in his side and he will reluctantly turn to some of the less high-profile names like Kevin McLaughlin, Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton. Sexton certainly laid down a marker with a polished all-round and kicking game.

“He took a knock early and they were obviously trying to target him,” said Cheika. “He kicked at the posts well and they weren’t the easiest conditions. We didn’t slack very much throughout the game and that’s very important against Munster because if you show them a crack, they’ll open up a hole.”

The manner in which the entire Leinster team tackled and drove back their opponents leading to countless turnovers was one of the most startling aspects of the game but again Cheika had a simple explanation.

“You have to be like that against Munster, if you don’t they’ll kill you,” he went on. “At the end of the day, this win would mean nothing if we didn’t back it up next week. That’s when it really kicks off. No, it’s not a case of trying to keep a lid on things. The players know it, we’ve been there before. We’ve had a good win and then a good win the week after. Experience is the teacher, not me. They know the action starts next week for us and I’m sure for Munster as well.”

He stopped for a moment and quipped: “I feel sorry for Northampton,” before smiling and then suggesting that I shouldn’t write that while adding: “Munster are a class outfit and you won’t keep them down for long. It didn’t work out for them tonight. They’ll be back in a big way. They have too many quality players and too good a coaching team not to be back in the oppositions’ face.”