Matt O’Connor calls for Leinster leaders all over the park

Leinster coach Matt O’Connor expects every player to be a leader when they step out against Wasps in the RDS on Sunday in their opening European Champions Cup game.

Leinster have been hit by a staggering amount of injuries but O'Connor expects everyone who is selected to play to take on a leading role. O'Connor also said that Irish winger Dave Kearney, who injured an ACL joint, will not be back playing for a few more weeks.

“Leadership gets talked about a lot,” said O’Connor. “The bloke in the shirt has to make decisions. Everybody in those slots are leaders in their own right. Deliver on your role and that’s the best way to lead.”

O’Connor added that Wasps are a threat in all areas of the park, even though they do not have as much European experience as the three-times European winners Leinster.

“Their home form has been unbelievable,” said O’Connor. “They have had some very good wins, Bath, Northampton . . . they have turned them over.

“They have some unbelievable finishers. Their nine and ten are experienced and dangerous, their backrow is very dangerous with Haskell, Hughes and Johnson . There are threats from all over the field from them. We are going to have to be very, very accurate.

“The closest thing to European rugby is Test rugby. They have a handful of guys who have played Test rugby but we have significantly more experience. But it all comes down to the performance on the day. It all comes down to us making sure we manage every single minute in the game. The game, the pool, the group can change in one involvement. You got to make sure you win the moment, the moment, the moment...

“The expectation is something we live with everyday. You’ve got to win your home games and that’s the bare minimum if you want to get out of the group. We know what the expectation is and we know what we have to deliver on Sunday.”