Robbie Henshaw shook his head in wonderment when asked to look back on his side’s hard-fought Champions Cup win over Exeter Chiefs.
Two days removed from Leinster’s Sandy Park heroics and it was not his exceptional inside centre performance, Johnny Sexton’s superb score or the 44 phases the Blues put together before Jack Conan’s score. No. It has Leinster’s defence.
Exeter may have made 227 tackles to Leinster’s 114 but the 20-30 that the visitors made in the closing stages are what Henshaw gushed about during his press briefing at the club’s UCD headquarters. Chiefs were 2-0 going into Sunday’s clash and they were eight points clear of the Aviva Premiership.
Rob Baxter’s side had not lost at home in a year but Leinster are making a habit of upsetting odds this year. Henshaw’s fixation with how well Leinster perfomed as a defensive unit speaks volumes. He said:
“It was a tough battle against a quality outfit. Up front is where I thought it was won. It was a real statement of intent, keeping them out on their own tryline a couple of times in the game.
“It came down to the wire in the end but it was really good to get the win on the road. That’s their first lost in 15 months and it really put down a marker in our camp. It’s nothing until we back it up again this week. It’ll be a massive week for us.”
That Leinster defence was immense, making 114 tackles of the 122 they attempted for a 93% success rate. Henshaw was guilty of one of Leinster’s eight missed tackles but he landed 11 more and won most of those collisions. He made some strong carries, too, and was like an extra loose forward around the breakdown.
@henshawrob thanks very much for the photo. Great win @leinsterrugby pic.twitter.com/Xscaoh11OZ
— Kitty O'Hanlons (@KOHanlons) December 10, 2017
Having missed the final Ireland game of the Guinness Series, the 24-year-old is delighted to have got a real slog under his belt, especially with the slate of tough fixtures ahead. He is aware, though, of some recent results [Leinster vs. Northampton in 2013, Munster vs. Leicester last season] when an away win is Europe is soon followed by a home loss.
Henshaw says the goal, for Saturday’s return tie with Exeter, is to deliver a complete performance. If they do that, he argues, the result should look after itself.
“We always put out the marker that if we go ahead, we’ll keep going. We won’t take our foot off the gas. If that means going after the five points, we’ll push and try our best to get them.”
Following on from Tadhg Furlong’s ‘sucking diesel’ comments on Sunday, this Leinster team are reading from the same, fuel-related sheet of sporting metaphors.
They were genuine contenders for the Champions Cup last season but this season’s vintage looks even better.
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