To say that this Leinster defeat sticks in the craw would be an understatement. They'll be choking on the memory of it all week. Sure, as a consequence, they'll up their performance considerably for Saturday's visit to Leicester but then again the Tigers will be on the prowl all week as well.

And thanks to this stupid defeat - there's no other description for it - Leinster need to beat Leicester in Welford Road to have the remotest hope of reaching the play-offs. Nor does Leicester's win in Toulouse appear to have done Leinster any favours either - news of it merely provoking resigned shakes of the head in a dejected camp.

There were, admittedly, mitigating factors for this anti-climactic set-back. Far from having a Donnybrook effect, Milan's puzzling choice of the remote outpost that is Calvisano gave the occasion an almost surreal air, devoid of atmosphere.

A few hundred of the beautiful people assembled in the smallish main stand, several pushing prams in a sporting environment more akin to a cricket match. Leinster were even applauded onto the pitch. Could this really be Italy? A fiery, Romanesque emporium might have stirred Leinster more, after their response to the biggest crowd of the second series a week before.

Given first use of a welcome and stiff breeze on another hot day, Leinster lacked urgency in compiling a 17-11 half-time lead. Comprehensively outgunned in the set-pieces by a strictly one-dimensional Milanese outfit, Leinster were in danger of conceding a try whenever they conceded a penalty, throw-in or put-in within a 30-metre radius of their own line. It was that bad.

Not unexpectedly, the French referee showed a decidedly lax attitude to spoiling at rucks and generally interpreting things Milan's way. Indeed, most of the crucial decisions went against Leinster and the final penalty tally was 209.

But for all that, Leinster played more get-out-of-jail cards than Ronnie Biggs. Thanks to the opportunism of the outstanding John McWeeney, David O'Mahony and Alan McGowan they somehow maintained their lead and had the match won entering injury time.

Though their failure to control a maul off a line-out near the Milan line yielded a defensive put-in to the home side, they regained possession through the throw-in on half-way. Monsieur Lasaga signalled three minutes remained. Under the modern laws, Leinster merely had to make no mistakes and retain possession once Steve Jameson gathered Shane Byrne's throw.

They took the ball on through the forward runners, Kurt McQuilkin and Alan McGowan, recycling it each time. Then Dennis Hickie came off his wing to join the line going left, and kicked ahead for Massimo Ravazzolo to gather and give Milan last-ditch hope.

A couple of penalties and a big break by Paolo Vaccari later, a last desperate right-to-left salvo and a pass inside which went to ground, ultimately drew the Leinster cover back inside. Ravazzolo looped around and put Massimo Cuttitta over in the corner.

It was a fittingly naive ending. On the day, Leinster weren't very streetwise. Aside from rumbling forward in the scrums or rumbling forward off Gianbattista Croci's takes, Milan had precious little else to offer. Leinster should never have let it be enough.

Given Carlo Orlandi was never going to throw the ball anywhere else but to the gangling Croci, and that Milan were never going to alter from the profitable tactic of mauling their way forward from there, the wonder is Leinster never took remedial action until Jameson stole one ball from him late on and left Croci in need of lengthy treatment.

Either illegitimately or legitimately - simply bunching all the jumpers against him or lifting someone other than the soft-edged Aaron Freeman against Croci - it's safe to say Milan's solo tactic would not have been allowed to carry with such impunity in, say, Thomond Park.

Because of all that, the Leinster management were in a bad mood but in no mood to complain about it all. "We had some outstanding performances behind the scrum but we were comprehensively and totally outplayed in the setpieces," conceded Jim Glennon. "It's very hard to relate today's performance by the pack to last week's," he added, with the glazed look of team managers who wish they had a degree in psychology.

However, Mike Ruddock had sensed it coming. "As well as having two tight-heads sidelined [Angus McKeen and Peter Bruce] we were at a massive disadvantage in that both Paul Flavin and Reggie Corrigan had heavy colds earlier in the week. The line-outs were a by-product of the same thing. We hadn't done the work and it showed."

"John McWeeney was excellent and I can't say enough about Alan McGowan's performances at the moment. But it wasn't a good team performance, and I've made my feelings known to them." Apparently, Ruddock ate them alive.

What truly galled was that better Milan sides had never won a Euro tie before. So utterly inept was out-half Marco Platania that he regularly fluffed penalties at goal or to touch. Even that thorn in Irish sides, Vaccari, was given only two running chances all day. Some of the tackling was of the vintage marshmallow variety, but Leinster couldn't give their superior backs a platform.

"They were quite an ordinary side, certainly not as good as the Milan side of two years ago," ventured Glennon. That was the hardest pill to swallow.