ON RUGBY:The Kiwi coach has added a more ambitious running and offloading game. In terms of their approach, Leinster are the nearest thing to the All Blacks in Europe right now, writes GERRY THORNLEY

MICHAEL CHEIKA was always going to be a tough act to follow, and the affable and honest Kiwi Joe Schmidt unfairly came under the microscope when Leinster lost three of their first four League games in September, all away from home while the Irish front-liners were gradually being re-introduced. But he looks like just what Leinster needed.

Cheika, one of the brightest young coaches around, laid the foundations of a hardened professionalism and steely desire, but, with the emergence of Mike Ross and arrival of Greg Feek helping to stabilise the scrum, the former Clermont backs’ coach has added a more ambitious running and offloading game. In terms of their approach, they are the nearest thing to the All Blacks in Europe right now.

He’s been helped, too, by the continuing emergence of more young jewels off the Leinster production line, but 24 points and 21 tries in such a Heineken Cup group was a remarkable effort. Only Leicester and Perpignan scored more, with 14 of the Tigers’ 25 tries and 10 of Perpignan’s 23 tries coming against Treviso.

That Leinster have already decided to host their quarter-final in the Aviva makes perfect sense, even if Leicester did beat them at Lansdowne Road at this stage six seasons ago. You don’t turn down an extra €700k-plus in a professional business, least of all nowadays. Toulouse have built the best training facilities in Europe on the back of eight home Cup quarter-finals and are probably still kicking themselves today that they didn’t earn a ninth.

The “home” semi-final draws for the Irish sides are more helpful than last year, but there remain a few caveats. Leicester have won seven of nine quarter-finals and remain the only team to topple Munster at Thomond Park. Away days hold less fears for them than anyone, even Toulouse. They have a monstrous scrum and ballast across the pitch, with the dynamism and footwork of Manu Tuilagi liable to test even the great one himself. Leinster’s “home” route to a final also has slightly uncomfortable echoes of 2003 when a semi-final defeat to Perpignan at Lansdowne Road denied them a final there.

As David Humphreys also forewarned on Sunday evening, Ulster have a habit of losing their way without their leading Irish lights during Test windows and after two unbroken months together, the Irish sides will have only two (and probably one) Magners League games to rediscover that rhythm after a punishing Six Nations schedule. And, recalling November, there’s the casualty count.

Schmidt joked he would have accepted 17 points from Leinster’s pool and an away quarter-final. In the event, that’s what Toulon achieved, which was the lowest total of any pool winner since bonus points were introduced eight seasons ago.

Toulon’s debut campaign underlines the shift in power across the English channel, with the French providing nine of the last 16 in the two competitions, and England just four along with three Irish. French clubs topped eight of the 11 pools. Even so, in the Cup, Ireland’s win-loss ratio of 72 per cent is the best, followed by the French (61 per cent), the English (53 per cent), the Welsh (37.5 and and a modest 50 per cent, excluding the winless Dragons), Scots (25 per cent) and the Italians (eight per cent).

Both the two best runners-up emerged from groups containing Italians. In their dozen pool games, Aironi and Treviso leaked 62 tries in total and conceded offensive bonus points in every one of them. That equated to a 10-point buffer for all their opponents, except Biarritz, who garnered seven points against Aironi and earned a home quarter-final, despite losing to them away.

There were no such gravy trains passing through the other four pools, least of all Pool Three. Toby Booth made the point on Saturday that this group contained the top seeds in each of the four tiers (and Leinster and Munster are likely to remain amongst the top tier next season). Ultimately, Toulon won it by dint of the group’s only away win in a dozen matches, against London Irish.

Schmidt was delighted for the Munster coaching staff, whom he believes have been unfairly criticised, for their team’s storming push for victory on Saturday. Amid the over-reaction to Munster’s exit – nobody died, it happens to everyone, even Toulouse and Leicester – there was the inevitable clarion call for the promotion of youth while consigning the senior players to the scrap heap.

Almost certainly, that would do more damage than good. Suppose, for a second, the likes of Mike Sherry, Davie Ryan, Ian Nagle, Ivan Dineen and Peter O’Mahony had played against London Irish (though not all were named in the original squad list), would they have beaten London Irish last Saturday? Most probably not.

True, Sherry and Darragh Hurley were significant contributors to that dramatic late comeback, but the biggest contributors were probably Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara; O’Connell for the way he simply led from the front, O’Gara for the direction he gave and variety of his kicking – witness the sumptuous grubber for Keith Earls’ try. Mind you, it was also striking how Munster reverted more to basics in their moments of crises, not only playing territory but rediscovering their lineout maul.

Where had that gone? Had Munster lost last Saturday, they would also have lost their sense of near Euro invincibility in Limerick. Not only would the critics have emerged from the long grass with knives sharpened, but panic would have set in, which would have done the youngsters little good either. Instead, it showed the collective character still beats vibrantly through the squad. Their young talent has to be blooded sensibly, and ideally alongside side a core of proven winners and leaders.

Why overly-jeopardise the opportunity of winning the Magners League, or for that matter the Amlin Challenge Cup? A home semi-final would generate the windfall of 50 per cent of the gate receipts from a sell-out against Harlequins or Wasps. That can facilitate the recruitment drive, for starters.

It’s also worth recalling Munster finished second in the most competitive pool by a point. They’ll rue the way the penalty count went against them in all three away games, the lineout and scrum implosions which cost them wins away to London Irish and the Ospreys, and the offensive bonus point that Sam Tuitupou’s intercepted pass and Paul O’Connell’s red card probably cost them at home to the Ospreys.

But, as ever, they are not alone. Clermont and Wasps missed out, as did (along with the Scots and the Italians) the entire Welsh quartet, with not even a place in the Challenge Cup between them. Now, recalling the Irish prophets of doom at the outset of this Euro campaign, that really would have been grim.