Larmour and Snyman injuries the chief concern for Cullen and Leinster

Leinster's Jack Conan, RG Snyman and Diarmaid Mangan after the match. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

While it wasn’t entirely plain sailing over the course of the contest, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was generally satisfied with how his side went about their business against Harlequins in the European Champions Cup pool clash at the Aviva Stadium this evening.

As well as having 11 players unavailable through injury, ‘Quins were lining out at Irish Rugby HQ without the services of international quartet Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham-South and Jack Kenningham – all of whom were taking mandatory rest periods.

The fact Leinster had beaten the English Premiership outfit 62-0 when they faced each other in a Champions Cup quarter-final at Croke Park as recently as April raised the prospect of a one-sided affair in their latest meeting, but a spirited and determined ‘Quins did their utmost to defy expectations.

A penalty try for the visiting team reduced Leinster’s lead to just three points (24-21) on 51 minutes, before a significant scoring blitz from the hosts ultimately propelled them towards a 45-28 bonus point triumph at the Aviva.

“The big thing is making sure we have proper respect for the opposition. ‘Quins are very good around throwing bodies into their defensive breakdown. We knew it was going to be hard work for us if we're just a little bit off. I thought they did a good job. We scored seven tries. When you're in the Champions Cup, scoring seven tries in a game is great,” Cullen remarked in a post-match press conference.

“I thought Quins had a couple of decent passages of play themselves. They had some good plans and they scored a couple of good tries. Then we start the second half. Again, don't quite make enough fixes and then we end up on the receiving end of a penalty try, a yellow card [for Jimmy O’Brien].

“You’re looking, 24-21, down to 14 men. I thought we managed that period really, really well. The bench guys come on, all add impact in their own way. Then we score three unanswered tries during that period. Overall, some good bits and there's plenty we need to get better at as well.” 

Following this evening’s victory, Leinster will now face a short turnaround to another Champions Cup pool stage encounter against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road next Friday. In advance of that fixture, there will be some concern for Cullen over the fitness of RG Snyman - who was withdrawn in the opening quarter of tonight’s game with a shoulder injury.

Garry Ringrose also made way for debutant Rieko Ioane around the hour mark with suspected cramp and although he didn’t specify what his injury was, Cullen also explained player of the match Jordan Larmour could be a doubt for next week’s game after he limped off in the closing moments of the action.

“Jordan is probably the most significant of them all, I think. Straight away he was uncomfortable, so we'll get him assessed. RG, his shoulder just was a bit uncomfortable, but again I don't know. He'll go off, get a scan or X-ray or whatever's going on there,” Cullen added.

“Garry, I think it was just cramp. I'm not sure with him. Again, short turnaround. The games are coming thick and fast at the moment. I think even in the dressing room we had a short review there. What's on our minds, what do we think?

“Let's turn the page and get excited about going again next week. Which is one of the hardest places to go in world rugby probably, isn't it? It is one of the hardest places to go and it's one of those places you find out about the group. What they're made of. So a good challenge.”