Gerry Thornley talks to Leinster coach Matt Williams about thechallenges for a successful side

IN SOME respects, the auguries aren't great for Leinster. Last season was arguably the province's best ever. They averaged three and a half tries and over 30 points a match. They set a record with 15 consecutive wins, the springboard for their Celtic League/Interprovincial Championship double, either side of making the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time in six years. They've raised the bar.

Increased expectations go with the territory for successful sides, which is what Leinster have become. For as coach Matt Williams points out: "If you have a bad year or a mediocre year then the pressure is on. You've got to do well every year. That's what we're paid to do. We're paid to win."

Even so, other factors are working against them, most notably the nuisance value of Ireland's three unwanted Tests next month.

"It is an extremely difficult year," accepts Williams. "We're still paying for Lens (a reference to Ireland's quarter-final play-off defeat to Argentina in the World Cup three years ago). It's just the way it is."

Hence, whereas last season a full-strength Leinster squad had two uninterrupted months of preparation for the Celtic League, this season their frontline team will train together for the first time this week, just five days before next Friday's opener against Pontypridd.

Up to 10 or 11 players are then likely to be missing for the ensuing four Celtic League games, and to all intents and purposes will only reassemble about a fortnight before their initial Heineken Cup tie at home to Bristol. By comparison "our opponents would have been together for about four months", Williams says.

On paper Leinster seem to have a tougher Celtic League draw, for there is no Ebbw Vale or Caerphilly in their section. Cardiff, Swansea and old sparring partners Newport (who they beat three times last season) are as tough as they come in Wales - and Leinster only have three home games as opposed to four last season.

In one area, though, Williams has no concerns. There is not even the slightest hint of a fall-off in mental attitude, he says.

"We haven't hung our hat up. The staff are certainly working harder than last year. In two Januarys we've had things go against us, between injuries, weather, tough draws and results. While what we did was great there's still a hunger there to be even stronger in Europe. There's more focus in the team. Reggie (Corrigan), Shane (Horgan) and those guys spent a lot of years in the wilderness. They want even more now."

They still have bars to scale, not least an elusive first win in France. The coaching staff has been rejigged - Alan Gaffney's departure and Willie Anderson's arrival means a switch of emphasis from the forwards to the backs for Williams.

"Al (Gaffney) and I have been together for so long, we're like brothers. But I'm sure Al would say the same, a change is as good as a holiday. Al's probably loving running his own show and having Willie in has been brilliant for me, with all his new ideas, and I love coaching backs."

The European Cup format annoys him as much as it does Ulster coach Alan Solomons, and with no Italian whipping boys Leinster are also immediately at a disadvantage.

"But there's no easy draw and no tough draw. Last year we were in the so-called Pool of Death, yet we'd qualified for the play-offs by Christmas and were the first team to do so.

"My gut feeling is that if we can survive the first two games with such little preparation the pool will swing on the two games in seven days against Montferrand (only a fortnight after the autumn internationals). It's what we had against Stade Francais two years ago."

After finishing last season with five away games, it's helpful that Leinster begin both competitions at Donnybrook, where they've never felt so much at home, remaining unbeaten there in 19 games since November 1999.

"It's really becoming a major factor for us, so that's a plus, and there are going to be games where we're going to really need our supporters. Donnybrook has to remain a cauldron. All the work and goodwill we generated last year, we're going to need that to come out and help these young guys come through," he concludes.