Schmidt: Sarries will force us to play in top gear

IT is not all it seems in Pool 2 of the Heineken Cup, and an eight-point difference between leaders Leinster and bottom team Saracens doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story of this particular four-team campaign.

The reality, though, is that Saracens won’t qualify and Leinster, needing one more victory from two games, almost certainly will. They could have a quarter-final place wrapped up by 3.30pm at the RDS today.

But Leinster’s coach Joe Schmidt and the experienced Scottish international second row Nathan Hines are in no doubt that being on top puts them in the firing line and will merely fuel the desire of an English club that has, arguably, played with more freedom on the road, where their only victory was achieved against Racing Metro in Paris.