Schmidt expects test from hot Bath

THIS should be easy for Leinster.

Last week Bath threw everything at them but the provincial side, comfortable with the favourites tag at this stage, played the grafter’s role. They outworked Bath at the breakdown, responded to early set backs, did not panic when they fluffed a few scoring chances and did enough through the boot of Jonny Sexton to secure victory. The surprise element gone, Bath come to the Aviva Stadium facing a hostile crowd and the reigning European champions.

You would expect a home victory but for coach Joe Schmidt, the manner of last week’s performance will give Bath the confidence to turn over the home side. “I think they would have got enough confidence out of the game last week to come over here fully charged. I’m not sure what their injury situation is like but they’ll have a few faces to make it challenging,” he said.