JOE SCHMIDT had revealed that he’d never beaten Seán Lineen before but after both visited new territory yesterday Schmidt’s compatriot took it on the chin. There were mutterings about Leinster’s dark deeds at the breakdown and rueful reflections about chances missed, but also manifold respect for the reigning champions.

“Trying to get quick ball against Leinster is very difficult,” Lineen smiled dryly. “They’re the best at it. I don’t know how they do it sometimes. You go in with the ball and suddenly the ball is back on their side, as if by magic.”

But while lamenting a couple of referee’s decisions, he was more disappointed about some of his players’ decision-making after a defeat that could well condemn them to being the sixth-best runners-up, and thus missing out on the Challenge Cup. But he also acknowledged that the visitors had a better array of ball carriers.

“Leinster have outstanding ball carriers right through the team. They have 15 decision makers on the ball and 15 loose forwards off it, and you can see that today. They make it very difficult and they’re very good at it and they get away with it, and they’ve always been masters at it and it’s part of the game.”

Describing them as “a champion team”, Lineen maintained they were favourites to retain the title. “Especially teams that don’t play them in the RaboDirect. You know what you’re going to get from Leinster, but otherwise I think it can come as a bit of a shock, their intensity in the contact and how they play the game and keep the ball for long periods and just the speed of ball and the decisions they make.

“They’re just very clinical and at such a high level. They play a simple game but that’s the hardest game to play,” said Lineen. That said, he added: “You have a couple of French teams who could have something to say about that – Toulouse and Clermont – and Munster and Sarries as well are also very strong. And why would you write off Edinburgh,” he said pointedly, in hoping their domestic rivals give Scottish rugby a boost.

Asked what the post-match mood was like in the Leinster dressing-room, man-of-the-match Seán Cronin said: “I’d say satisfied, it’s no easy place to come and get four points. They are very passionate, especially the tackle area and we struggled to get go forward in the first half, but we sorted it out at the breakdown and in the collisions and that got us back into the game.”

Another area of concern was the scrum, where Leinster coughed up a strike against the head under the Glasgow posts and were penalised a couple of times by Nigel Owens. “It’s been happening the last few games,” admitted Cronin. “We had a chat about it after, we don’t seem to be under any huge pressure and yet we are giving up penalties, which is worrying. We will address it and have a look at it during the week. Nigel referees the game the way he does and he didn’t change from what he is doing so that’s up to us to adapt.”

Cronin is the one undoubted success story of the quartet of players who left Connacht to seek greener pastures in Ireland, and yesterday he augmented good darts by persistently taking the ball from depth and at pace to be his team’s most effective ball carrier. “It is always good to get your hands on the ball. We have some extremely good ball carriers, the likes of Seán O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip, and when teams target them it opens things up for other players. Eoin Reddan and Jonny Sexton boss the game so well and get you involved, so I had a few carries today and I was delighted with that.”

Now dangles the carrot of a home quarter-final, most likely at the Aviva Stadium. “It’s crucial; in this competition it is vitally important and it’s going to be a very tough game against Montpellier next week and it is all about getting past this weekend and getting ready for that and trying to get the win and get there.”