Victor Costello: 'How English World Cup heroics will create an opportunity for Irish in Europe'

[King_of_lion]

It's been a long time since we witnessed a game of such little scoring value, since the advent of professionalism and weather safety protection it looked like these days were over. With such little margin for most of the game Leinster had to keep the pressure on and when their attack seemed to fail them at the last touch or catch they reverted to a steadfast defence which carried them to victory. What should have been a maximum pointer turned into a mental and physical drain. If it was a loss one could say that Leinster lost the battle but will ultimately win the war, but in this case Leinster won the dogged battle eventually and will also win the war - this is the difference between good sides and bad but it won't give any solace to a Leinster side that should have known better . The players gained more game-time and experience and a realisation that it doesn't always go to plan. When it doesn't it's still nice to win but sometimes losses can be beneficial, when not at play-off time. With Dragons ahead tonight the RDS experience will delete the recent past in Italy but it still needs to be debriefed and not ignored. ADVERTISEMENT Leinster mixed up the team for the trip and as much as the performance was not up to standard it will not affect selection processes or development within the squad. Confidence Leinster management should have confidence in the squad not to make panic changes, but it is worthy to note Dragons put a lot of points on Zebre when they played them and will be worthy contenders. Ironically, this win put Leinster at the top of the PRO14 but should have done so with maximum points. Zebre, in desperation, pulled off a performance like no other this season and they made home turf count. It's unlikely they will have a performance like this season again but for Leinster sometimes you just have to tough it out. Mick Kearney's recent departure to the side would have helped Zebre's cause but while the intent was there the skill levels were not.These games even when they're not going your way are good for developing a mental toughness and Leinster kept trying to put their patterns together to no avail. With Leinster's success over the past seasons they have become a target, particularly when playing away as home teams would always target this high-profile scalp. Nevertheless the video review will not make easy viewing and with Irish rugby already scratching its head, the provinces must have strength in consistency as the foundation for Irish rugby to find its feet. The issue the current Leinster squad have is that for the run of unbeaten games they have played since the start of the season against Bennetton, the Blues are a shining light of progress in the PRO14. From a player's point of view, keeping these results going and keeping individual performances high is crucial to the building of a solid pool of players to mount an attack on Europe. After one game they have put a seed of doubt in their heads at the wrong time with players returning from the World Cup and competition for places increasing over the coming weeks. One poor performance should not make a difference but confidence and momentum are crucial in this season so the players will be keen to put things right this weekend. That being said, history in this competition has dictated that performances on the road produce trophies while victories at home lay the foundation. Players will have to quickly find that balance in their performances away and at home. There has been a lot of talk recently about the influence on the Irish performances from Leinster. There is no doubt where once there was fluidity between club and country, in this past 12 months that has changed. There will always be more freedom for players at provincial level since there are more games and more turnover of players, but over the past year players have been less intuitive in their national shirts and more dictated to from the sidelines. The result of this was inconsistent player value and selection coupled with bad team performances.