Former Ireland captain Keith Wood believes Leinster face a tough task against Bath in the Champions Cup quarter-finals and also feels that the province are missing Off The Ball guest presenter Brian O'Driscoll more than Ireland have.
Keith was on Off The Ball tonight alongside Sky Sports analyst Stuart Barnes and ex-Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan to discuss the weekend's action and also to preview Leinster's European challenge.
"This season, whereas Ireland haven't seemed to struggle too much for the loss of Brian O'Driscoll in the ranks, Leinster seem to," said Keith, who also feels Leinster have a hard task on their hands this weekend, although he expects the return of key players to help them over the line.
Eddie reckons the main challenge for Leinster is to "contain" Bath or face the prospect of "chasing shadows".
Barnes is confident about the build-up for Bath has a couple of worries over Mike Ford's team.
"Bath have been playing quite well. Their slight concern would be it's quite a long time since the likes of Forde and Joseph slotted back in to the way they play," he said.
"Bath, at their very best, have been the best team in England. But they still have an ability to just disappear in games for 20 minutes - a bit like Leinster actually."
Keith and Eddie analysed Munster's victory over Connacht in the Pro 12 and Keith compared the recent trajectory of one of the try scorers, Keith Earls, with Leinster's Luke Fitzgerald.
"It suited Keith Earls a lot that he didn't really get pulled up into the Ireland squad. I think it's been good for him. He's been able to build his confidence and play pretty well," said Keith, while Eddie added that it might serve Earls well in his fight for a spot in the World Cup squad.
Eddie also foresees issues for Connacht in the Pro 12 run in amid injury worries.
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