Luke Fitzgerald believes the disruption caused by injuries and Six Nations commitments have played a part in Leinster inconsistencies this season.
The Ireland international will start on the wing against Toulon in the Champions Cup this Sunday and told Off The Ball that cohesion can be hard to build.
"I hate to use excuses but I actually think it's just being pragmatic about it. I think we've had an awful lot of guys who've been in and out of the team due to injury and the Six Nations. So I think it's pretty hard to bed in combinations and for a whole game to go seamlessly. It's probably an unrealistic expectation placed on a lot of guys," he said.
He also feels some of the post-match analysis of the team can edge towards the sensationalist.
"People are probably going to write what they see but whether they are slightly skewed or slightly biased and at times I'd say a little bit sensationalist in terms of how poorly we've been performing because the stats will probably tell you that we score an awful lot of tries," he said, adding that the coaching staff have been coming in for criticism when "the players need to be fronting up".
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