John Connolly enjoys a particular expertise in working with forward packs. He initially earned his reputation at Queensland before travelling to Europe and pit stops at Old Belvedere, Stade Français and Swansea, amongst other places, before finally taking the coaching reins at Bath.
The affable Aussie had no axe to grind after Saturday's Heineken European Cup defeat to Leinster, despite the acute disappointment of watching a game at the Recreation Ground his team should probably have won. It was therefore without rancour that he responded to a question about whether Leinster's pack was good enough to carry the province to overall tournament honours. It was a win that guaranteed Leinster a quarter-final place and if the beat Treviso at Lansdowne Road next Saturday, a home quarter-final.
"I'd be surprised. But I've been surprised before. I can see some of the teams left in the tournament taking it to them in the forwards. I said as much two years ago before the semi-final that I thought Perpignan would be too strong for them up front.
"If the forwards can give them a platform then they have outstanding backs and any team with (Brian) O'Driscoll in it is going to have a chance. They have those wonderful backs but their pack has to get parity in the scrums, lineouts and loose to give them a chance. Still they're probably half a dozen Lions in that team and they'll be in the mix, that's for sure."
Connolly conceded he had targeted the Leinster pack and watched his Steve Borthwick-inspired eight decimate the Leinster lineout and provide them with a difficult afternoon.
Therein lies a huge problem for coach Declan Kidney as Leinster's lineout misfired once again, conceding nine turnovers.
While the forward effort couldn't be faulted for perspiration - Leo Cullen was forced to retire early in the second half completely drained having fought a flu all week - only a brilliant performance from Malcolm O'Kelly and arguably Shane Jennings' best game in European competition rose above the distinctly average. Ricky Nebbett did well when he was introduced.
Kidney admitted: "To have any chance of a home quarter-final we needed to get a bonus point at least and to be honest that's what I was looking at in those final minutes. Last week we dug a hole for ourselves and didn't get out of it, this week we just about managed it.
"I think it would be an injustice to the players' efforts to describe the win as lucky. We are demonstrating 'stick-ability' and if we continue to do that we might make ourselves a nuisance to other teams. We had a chance to pull clear early on but it didn't happen and then we took our foot off the pedal a little bit.
"They got possession and kept it. We have to learn how the get the ball back within the laws of the game when we lose it. We were defensive in defence. We have to be more offensive in defence. It was certainly an emotional roller-coaster ride."
As for the lineout conundrum Kidney observed: "They have a good lineout. We need to speed ours up. If you don't have that speed they're going to be able to read it. We nearly suffered as a result. We have a lot way to go as a side and we know that. But we'll be working on it."
This is the second game in succession in which Leinster have smuggled victories with barnstorming finishes that papered over lacklustre performances. Fortunately the scope for improvement is significant and providing they overcome Treviso, the timeframe is there to redress most of the issues undermining their current displays.
