Leo Cullen happy to take risks that come with attacking intent

The filter of victory allows for a little more introspection, where the little blemishes of performance are softened by the outcome.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was initially asked for his overview on the game, predicated on a period midway through the second half, when Wasps had clambered their way back to eight points behind from an initial starting point of 25-3.

The tension was palpable, and not just present amongst the Leinster supporters in a crowd of just over 50,000. He admitted: "There were periods in the game that we didn't manage great. We started well. It's disappointing the break for that Willie Le Roux incident where he dropped the ball over the line; it was a poor chase from us.

"That was definitely a bit of a turning point. (We conceded) some tough penalties, one from a maul transfer, another when I thought Tadhg Furlong picked the ball from the back of a ruck where he makes a break through the middle. There's another one on a clean-out on Tadhg that led to their three points.

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“We showed good resilience, fought our way back in and finished the half really strongly, created some good chances. In the second half it was disappointing that we didn’t respect the ball well enough at times.”

Cullen spoke about the concession of the two tries to Christian Wade and Jimmy Gopperth that allowed Wasps to get back into the match at 25-17 behind. "We didn't manage that period particularly well.

“I thought we showed good composure post that (incident) and played the game in the right area, came up with a couple of good scores.

“There is always going to be a bit of a mixed bag particularly when you think that the group haven’t been together since the middle of January, when we played Castres away, and it is a quarterfinal against a very good team.”

Leinster played some brilliant rugby at times, particularly in light of the conditions and never really wavered in their expansive patterns. Cullen continued: “We want to play with attacking intent but with that comes a little risk as well.

“When you turn the ball over you are a little bit more exposed. That’s what happened on a few occasions. There was one time when we were right on their try line, had the ball reefed and they go the length of the pitch. That’s how quickly they can turn defence into attack. There are definitely a lot of areas that we can be better at.

“We want players to express themselves, go out and enjoy when they’re playing in front of 50,000 people, that have turned up and paid good money to be here, which is an amazing thing really.

“The players want to produce moments, and I thought they did a lot today. I think they’re going to get better, because they’ll spend more time with each other. We can work out things in training.”

The Leinster coach had a word for man-of-the-match Joey Carbery. "He's very, very brave. He's not afraid to try things. We will have a look back at the game and go through it with him. He's hungry to learn and he wants to get better. I'm delighted for him today, it was a good performance; 21 years of age, it has come very quickly but he is definitely a talent."

He confirmed that Adam Byrne had suffered a slight hamstring strain and that given Wasps pace out wide it would have been too compromising to leave him on, pointing out how well Fergus McFadden, the final try-scorer, did when introduced.

For now, Leinster, players and management can kick back and enjoy Sunday’s quarterfinal in France, awaiting the winners of Clermont Auvergne’s clash with three-time champions Toulon.