The harsh lessons of last season have been taken on board by Leinster

Anyone questioning Leinster’s credentials as firm favorites for Champions Cup honours this season must have been won over, even before half time on Saturday such was their complete dominance in all facets of play over the opening 40 minutes.

Scarlets are a very good side but they were made look decidedly ordinary on this occasion. Leinster have the capacity to do that to teams.

They strangled the life out of the visitors, continually forcing them into error through the quality of their defensive press during the rare periods when Scarlets were in possession and were utterly devastating with the power of their set piece and attacking game when they had the ball.