O’Driscoll: winning is sole aim

LET’S dispense with the basic arithmetic first.

Beat London Irish in Twickenham on Saturday and Leinster will be guaranteed top spot in Pool Six and a home quarter-final in April. Secure a bonus point, or stop their opponents doing likewise, and they will still finish first.

A losing bonus point could even secure a last-eight tie in Dublin. That would leave the champions scrambling for news from elsewhere, however, and Brian O’Driscoll wouldn’t dream of accepting a bonus-point defeat and a later date at the RDS if it were somehow magically offered to him.