Schmidt happy as Leinster get clean bill of health for Toulouse

LEINSTER reclaimed second spot in the Magners League with a 20-8 victory over Aironi on Saturday afternoon but of greater satisfaction to head coach Joe Schmidt was the fact that the province left the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella without any injuries.

Coming just seven days before the eagerly-awaited Heineken Cup semi-final with Toulouse, the province’s trip to Viadana was fraught with danger. There had been a worry that Leinster might take their eye off the ball and jeopardise their hopes of a home draw in the Magners League play-offs by slipping up against an Aironi side which is not as bad as their record of one win from 21 games suggests.

Of greater concern, though, was a serious injury to one of their star men. To the relief of Schmidt, though, he was able to report a clean bill of health after a win which had been achieved thanks to first-half tries from Sean O’Brien and Cian Healy and 10 points from the boot of Fergus McFadden.