Leinster need to hit top gear , says Heaslip

Before kick-starting their Pool 2 campaign in the newly-formed European Rugby Champions Cup, this Saturday’s trip to Italy for a Pro12 encounter against Zebre presents Leinster with an ideal opportunity to bounce back from their disappointing Aviva Stadium defeat to Munster.

With three losses from their opening five league outings, the title holders can ill-afford to slip up at Stadio XXV Aprile this weekend, and speaking at the launch of National Science Week in The Cliff Townhouse yesterday, Blues captain Jamie Heaslip emphasised the need to start producing 80-minute performances.

“Obviously we want to be playing well going into Europe, and I think we have shown a lot of good patches. I don’t think we’ve shown an 80-minute performance. I think if you want go far in that competition you’ve got to be capable of putting out 80-minute performances,” Heaslip stated.