White anticipates 'battle of coaches' in Heineken Cup semi-final

Leinster prop Nathan White believes there will be a battle of wits among the two head coaches when Leinster meet Clerment Auvergne in the Heineken Cup semi-final.

The fixture means a return to France to face his old team for Leinster coach Joe Schmidt who spent three years as backs coach of the Top 14 outfit.

White expects both coaches to try and use their knowledge of each other to their team’s advantage.

“I think he (Schmidt) might know a few inside details but in saying that I think Vern Cotter, their coach, might know a few things about Joe as well,” White told LTV.

“It’ll be a good battle I think between the two coaches.”

Defending champions Leinster booked their place in the semi-final courtesy of a comprehensive 34-3 thrashing of the Cardiff Blues in the quarter-final.

While the victory added to the province’s momentum, it didn’t offer the challenging encounter expected at such a late stage in the competition and Leinster allowed their intensity to drop in the second half.

White, who featured as a replacement in the Aviva last Saturday, conceded that the pace fell after the interval but he praised his teammates for their level of performance in the opening half.

“It was great to go out and put in a big performance.

“The second half was a bit slow and we didn’t fire too many shots but we started very well.

“Definitely in that first 40 minutes the boys played really well and obviously sitting there watching it was good but you’re hoping to get out there and get a crack at it.”

Before Leinster can focus all their attention on the Clerment showdown they must navigate two games in the PRO12 which coincidentally see them take on the other Heineken Cup semi-finalists Edinburgh and Ulster.

This weekend sees the visit of Edinburgh to the RDS and Leinster will be looking to do the double over the Scottish side having overturned them 28-36 already this season.

But a 19-14 win over French giants Toulouse at the weekend proved Edinburgh’s progress under Michael Bradley and White expects a tough challenge on Friday.

“Edinburgh are a good side. They’ve got internationals across the board.

“Their set piece is very strong and they’ve some speedy finishers out wide.

“I think it’s going to be another good game, these PRO12 gamers there’s never much in it, I think come Friday night it will be another good battle.”