HISTORY TELLS US that European quarter-finals are heavily favoured towards the home team, but Leinster will face a demanding and fascinating task when they host Bath in April.
Attention for the wider rugby public turns towards the Six Nations now, while Matt O’Connor’s non-international players will enjoy a week off before tuning back into their Guinness Pro12 campaign.
In the background all the while, the Australian and his coaching team will be dissecting how Mike Ford’s Bath play, searching for those small areas in which they can ensure this quarter-final will not be their final European game of the season.
The Premiership side have been a joy to watch at stages in the current season and possess enough guile in their backline to tear any team apart. Their pack may not be full of household names, Francois Louw aside, but the forwards are hugely cohesive too.
Still, the home draw is key and Leinster will back themselves to advance into a semi-final away to Toulon or Wasps.
The group has total confidence in their ability to be as good as anyone,” said O’Connor after Saturday’s 20-20 draw with Wasps. “In Dublin, we’re good enough to beat anyone.”
The Leinster head coach may watch some of Ireland’s Six Nations games with apprehension, hoping that none of his leading players pick up long-term injuries. O’Connor has suffered enough in that regard already this season.
Sean O’Brien and Cian Healy have been absentees for some time, while Rhys Ruddock missed the crucial final Pool 2 fixtures. Jack McGrath’s suspension for stamping was untimely too, but it all means Leinster are likely to have personnel boosts by the time April rolls around.
Outside centre Luke Fitzgerald is relishing the thought of what those players can add for Leinster in that clash with Bath.
“Every match is a final in itself at this stage,” said Fitzgerald on Saturday. “I think it’ll be all guns pointed towards that quarter-final once we get through the Six Nations period and I think having guys like Rhys Ruddock coming back, Cian Healy, Sean O’Brien, they’re three massive ball carriers for this team.
They change how things work for us. I think in the meantime a lot of guys have stepped up. I thought Jordi Murphy was very good today, made an awful lots of breaks. Jack Conan when he came on, Jamie [Heaslip] as always. I think we look very strong.
“I think we’re looking like we’re playing some pretty decent rugby and I think we’ve got an awful lot of left in us, which is a nice place to be considering we’ve qualified.”
As Ireland’s sole representative in the Champions Cup quarter-finals, all eyes will be on Leinster in April.
