Seven tries and a comfortable win but Leinster falling short of their best

Leinster's Josh van der Flier waves to the crowds after the Heineken Champions Cup win over Bath. Picture: Niall Carson

There are problems and there are problems most teams would embrace as progress.

Anyone flicking over to the coverage of Leinster’s Heineken Champions Cup opener after the final whistle on Saturday might have found themselves wondering if Bath had nipped across the Irish Sea and produced one of the tournament’s great shocks.

The home team’s players trudged around the Aviva Stadium pitch clapping their supporters with an almost apologetic air. Craig Doyle and Brian O’Driscoll spoke at length about some of the ways in which Leinster weren’t quite at the perfect pitch.

Few teams can pin seven tries and 45 points on an opponent and merit such a critique, both from within and from without, because Leo Cullen and his players were perfectly in tune with the idea that this was far from a satisfactory day for the province.

Five tries and 31-6 up before the half hour, they laboured through too much of the game thereafter, their last score arriving with 58 minutes played. A poor Bath side facing an 11th straight loss actually ‘won’ the last quarter 7-0.

Again, these are first-world problems for a side that is first among equals when it comes to Ireland’s front-runners in Europe, but it feeds into the early months of a season which may look better on paper than in practice.

This was, let’s be clear, a seventh win in eight games. Leinster have scored 40+ points in five of those fixtures, hitting Scarlets for an even 50 in one of them. The only blot in terms of results has been the 20-10 loss at home to Ulster last month.

They have played some sublime rugby but, by their standards, just not enough of it. Cullen suggested on Saturday that the team has to really hit its straps as of yet, which could be a concern as we slip through the month of December.

“I don’t know is concern the right word,” the head coach said. “It’s just something we’re conscious of.”

There is an understanding that this season is not like those of recent vintage. The decision to encase the URC in hibernation for the duration of the November internationals has affected all sides but Leinster feel maybe them more than most.

The response by Cullen & Co to their first loss at home to Ulster for eight years was to draft in 10 returning internationals for the follow-up against Connacht and the result was a dreadfully slow start followed by a convincing performance thereafter.

If the result against Bath two days ago was similar to that 47-19 win, then the lopsided nature of the collective effort means that they push ahead now still searching for the sort of consistent 80 minute effort that has eluded them.

Cullen did admit that the vacillating nature of their form this past three weeks has given them pause as to how best to traverse the November stoppage next season but there isn’t time for those ponderings now, given the week ahead.

Next up is the visit to Montpellier for a Friday night kick-off. Leinster left the French city with a 21-point win in round one last season but there is a sense of the unknown as they plot a return trail to the GGL Stadium.

The Top 14 side fielded an understrength squad for their trip to Exeter and paid for it with a 36-point defeat but their domestic form has been exemplary of late, with five straight wins leading them into this European bloc from the third rung of the domestic ladder.

“I’ve watched a lot of them and we have played them in recent seasons as well so we have a reasonable idea (of what to expect) but they are very pragmatic in the way they play now,” said Cullen who is plotting against them for a sixth time inside five seasons.

“I remember Phillipe Saint-Andre in his Sale days, I was in England playing for Leicester at the time. That type of game they will play (is) based around forward power and momentum so we will need to get ourselves right for that physical confrontation.

“They have some big bodies that are used to playing big bodies week in and week out in the Top 14. They kick the ball a lot as well so we need to be ready for that aerial challenge that we think will come. It’s a short turnaround too.”