Young Leinster side outmuscled by physical Sharks in Durban

Regrets, they’ll have a pocketful, but Leinster won’t fixate unduly on the negatives because despite two defeats a large tranche of the younger contingent were exposed to the brutally physical rigours of rugby in South Africa.

Several thrived in that adversity, none more so than Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Josh Ericson and Todd Lawlor, while Caspar Gabriel and Fintan Gunne have a better understanding of running a game from the get-go. It wasn’t always perfect but that would have been an unrealistic burden or expectation.

There were collective game management issues, basic mistakes from handling to the more technical, but Leinster didn’t lose because of system issues. Individual lapses when well set territorially were more prohibitive in cost terms.