Blues warning for rest of Europe

As statements go this was as big as they get.

Exeter Chiefs are Aviva Premiership champions and they lead the current ladder by eight points. They hadn’t lost on home soil in 12 months in league or Europe. Nine games in a row had been put to bed by them prior to this.

So, this felt like something beyond a mere pool win for Leinster. Something beyond even the fact that they had denied their hosts a losing bonus point and added to the maximum points claimed in their October openers at home to Montpellier and away to Glasgow.