DESPITE SUFFERING HIS first defeat in 20 games, Joe Schmidt was thrilled by the guts of his returning captain, Leo Cullen.
In a stuttering display, the eastern province welcomed back Cullen and Brian O’Driscoll.
Meanwhile, World Cup winner, Brad Thorn made his debut.
After lamenting the 14 point swing that sent two TMO decisions in the Ospreys’ favour, Schmidt was more upbeat about the talent now at his disposal.
“I was delighted, Leo is a great soldier.” Schmidt said.
“He was half a lung short for that last 20 minutes, but he really soldiered on. Cool head, you couldn’t fault the decisions he was making and I feel a little bit sorry for him.”
As a new man to the setup, Thorn is being afforded plenty of scope to bed into his new surroundings and the coach feels his fellow Kiwi will soon be fully up to speed with the intricacies of his side’s play.
It was a similar story for O’Driscoll, playing for the first time since October.
“I thought Brian looked very sharp aswell for a guy who hasn’t played in as long as he has. As time goes on he will build towards more of an 80 minute performance.”
The bigger problem for Leinster is the sudden shallow look to their pool of tight-head prop.
Mike Ross departed Twickenham early last week. And although he is expect to be fit in time for the trip to Thomond, the Heineken Cup champions would have liked a chance to shield him from the firing line.
Now, however, both Nathan White and Jamie Hagan are major doubts for the game after this bruising encounter.
White is the most likely to feature, he was taken off in the first half with serious bruising. There was major concern for Hagan who was treated for close to 10 minutes on the field before being stretchered off after 58 minutes.
“(Hagan) is pretty uncomfortable at the minute. But he’s walking around.” A relieved Schmidt reported, “It’s his ribs, I think it’s discomfort more than anything serious and over the next 24 to 48 hours we’ll know a bit more about it.”
Destiny
Leinster’s lead at the top of the Pro12 table remains 11 points, but Munster could narrow that gap and move back into second place with a win in Connacht tomorrow.
For the eastern province, a home semi-final could have been virtually guaranteed with a win, but the narrow defeat has complicated matters substantially.
“We still control our own destiny.” Schmidt added stridently, “We know we’ve gotta go to Thomond Park next week and we know the magnitude of that challenge and we just have to turn ourselves around and get back up for that one.”
After that, Leinster will once again meet Welsh opposition. They will hope for better luck and a more coherent performance when the Cardiff Blues arrive at the Aviva looking to cause an upset in the Heineken Cup quarter final.
