All or nothing now for Leinster

All they can do now is wait for 6pm.

The DVDs have been dissected and digested, the training put to bed and everyone and anyone who could potentially offer a sliver of extra information, an angle ever so different to those they have already covered, has been cross-examined for information.

Leo Cullen was on to Bob Casey during the week, chewing the fat with his old team-mate about his experiences facing Exeter Chiefs with London Irish in the Premiership last season. Joe Schmidt even sounded out his old buddies in Clermont who, you would imagine, just want to see the back of Leinster at this stage.

It’s not where Leinster wanted to be at this point, knowing that it will probably require five points from their last pool game and a handful of other results falling their way if they are to progress, and holding their own half of that bargain will be a task in itself this evening at Sandy Park.

This may be the end of this season’s European adventure for the Chiefs but everything about the progressive Devon club suggests Rob Baxter’s side will prove stubborn and dangerous opposition, one determined to say adieu to their first Heineken campaign with aplomb.

Their form may be poor of late but they have lost just two of their 11 home games in all competitions this season and drawn one, against Bath. Weather permitting, it will be a 10,000-plus sell-out crowd greeting the European champions at tea-time.

If Leinster return to these parts in years to come, it may well be to a stadium twice the size as it is now. Corporate facilities are planned, too, while a strong academy system should continue to negate the need for high-priced buy-ins.

As Brian O’Driscoll said prior to the round one meeting which Leinster scraped through 9-6, there are no galacticos in the Exeter ranks but that is offset by a bunch of well-coached players who have bought into the club’s all-for-one ethos.

“There is a lot of admiration across England for what Exeter have done,” says Cullen. “When they got into the Premiership it was quite late and they didn’t get a chance to sign that many players at the time but Rob Baxter is a very clever guy. He has done a pretty amazing job with the team and they are just getting better and better all the time.

“I certainly have the utmost respect for what they have done and we are under no illusions as to how tough it is going to be. They had their opportunities at the RDS as well. We were very lucky to come away with the win.”

Exeter have already turned over Saracens and Harlequins at home this season but there is comfort for the visitors in the knowledge that they have succumbed at Sandy Park 11 times since their elevation to the Premiership in 2010, even if only Clermont and Bath have overcome them with four or more tries.

On the face of it, it is the clichéd all-or-nothing encounter for Joe Schmidt’s side but the Leinster coach hinted at a more measured approach during the week, even if their gung-ho tactics last Saturday against Scarlets followed similar notes of caution.

“During the game there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Leo to make all the right decisions, to make sure that there may come a time during the game when we’re looking just for the result and maybe not chasing [a bonus point],” said the Kiwi.

“Because, in the end, if we lose this game – even if we get a losing bonus point – 16 points gets you nowhere. We’ve got to at least get to 19 and maybe something bizarre will happen.”

That aside, there are other considerations.

The Amlin Challenge Cup may be a pale imitation of the Heineken but it offers the lure of silverware, gate receipts and ranking points which could effect not just Leinster’s place in the European firmament but Connacht’s too.

One suspects that may have to do.