Matt O’Connor: Leinster still a major force

Leinster 18 Bath 15: Hardly the sort of performance to put the fear of God into the other three remaining Rugby Champions Cup semi-finalists, but Leinster coach Matt O’Connor insists his side are still a difficult nut to crack.

The bottom line – a three-point win and the successful navigation towards a first European Cup semi-final since 2012 – would support that premise, though most of the 43,895 people who left Ballsbridge on Saturday evening might hold a different view. These were two teams who looked like sides playing together as collective units for the first time in ages which, of course, they were, after both had provided decent chunks of their roster to the Irish and English Six Nations campaigns.

Leinster missed 26 tackles, one in four they attempted on the day, and had their line cleanly broken seven times by a Bath side that undid itself with countless handling errors and a dozen penalties, half of which Ian Madigan punished with points.