Leinster head coach Leo Cullen hailed his returning international contingent after their 33-19 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby in their Heineken Champions Cup Pool One opener.
Last seasonâs beaten finalists welcomed back a number of players who featured for Ireland at the World Cup, including hat-trick hero Garry Ringrose and captain Jonathan Sexton, who also touched down and kicked three conversions.
Cullen said: âThatâs the pleasing piece â weâve got more guys through games.
âOff the back of what a lot of guys have been through, trying to come back in, itâs like their season is starting again. In many ways, itâs round one for us as an entire squad.
âWe still have a couple of more guys that are still yet to appear. Overall weâre pleased. It wasnât perfect, far from perfect, but itâs a win. Weâve got the job done in many respects.â
Following Ringroseâs early brace young hooker Ronan Kelleher marked his Champions Cup debut with a well-taken try as Leinster established a 19-7 half-time lead.
But second-half scores from Hame Faiva and Luca Sperandio, adding to Dean Buddâs eighth-minute effort, showed the continuing improvements in Benettonâs game under Kieran Crowley.
Although Leinster were always able to stay at least 12 points clear after the break, Cullen sounded a warning ahead of next weekendâs trip to Top 14 pacesetters Lyon.
Having served up a first-round demolition to Wasps in last seasonâs tournament, they subsequently fell short against a rejuvenated Toulouse just nine days later.
The Leinster boss is eager to avoid a repeat performance in France next Saturday, adding: âWe went away to France in round two last year and got beaten by Toulouse. We go away to Lyon this year and can we be better? Thatâs the question weâre asking ourselves.
âThe challenge is the fact that weâre not really up and running with this group yet. I think everyone thinks, âOkay, the group is going wellâ, but the PRO14, as we know, is very different to the challenge of Europe.â
This game was a homecoming of sorts for Benetton fly-half Ian Keatley. A product of the Leinster academy, the Dublin native went on to represent Connacht and Munster before making the switch to the Crowley-coached Treviso outfit.
Keatley felt a lack of killer instinct played a part in his sideâs downfall, saying: âEuropean Cup nights in Ireland are something special, especially in (Munsterâs) Thomond Park and (Leinsterâs home) the RDS. It was a great atmosphere out there.
âKieran said we were coming with a positive attitude and thatâs why we went for the corner early on and that gave us confidence when we scored.
âIf you give Leinster access to your 22 they are quite clinical, as they showed. We got into their 22 and we werenât clinical. That was the difference.â
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