Leinster flanker Josh van der Flier delivered a man-of-the-match performance in his side’s 30-23 Guinness PRO12 win over Edinburgh at the RDS on Friday night, but admitted the table-toppers still have plenty of room for improvement.
Leo Cullen's men extended their lead at the summit of the league table to five points with the bonus-point victory, but Edinburgh finished the match stronger than the home side.
Saluting the resilience of the Scottish side, Van der Flier said: “Edinburgh are a fantastic team. They really kept coming at us, even when our attack was going well in the second half.
“We’re disappointed to have conceded three tries, but it’s definitely a work-on.”
Reflecting on crossing the whitewash for Leinster’s 50th minute intercept try, the 22-year-old said: “I was happy enough. I was blowing a bit afterwards!
“I was delighted, obviously, to score. But it’s all about the team getting the win, which is what we wanted.”
Edinburgh’s finishing flourish, and Leinster’s inability to stifle it more effectively, is something that will be analysed, with Van der Flier admitting: “That was probably disappointing.
“Definitely we said inside there after the game that that’s something we really need to work on.
“We can’t be conceding tries that easily, as good as Edinburgh are.
“Our standards have to be higher than that.”
Leinster’s remaining fixtures come against Ulster and Trevisio, and the Ireland international said: “Every game is like a final from now on, really, with how tight the table is.
“All we can do is focus on Ulster in two weeks and try to get the win there.”
Coach Leo Cullen echoed much of what his young flanker said: “At 6-3 at half-time, we’d created a hell of a lot of opportunities, some really good chances, we just couldn’t stick that final pass. We got frustrated a couple of times at a few of the breakdowns, where we conceded penalties.
“Edinburgh went hard at our ball. It was a frustrating first half - we played into a very strong breeze.
“In the second half, I think it was important that we kept on with that same intent. I thought we looked quite sharp in attack, created some more good chances.
“We took them. We were a bit more clinical, I thought, in the in the second half.
“The game got a little bit loose after that.
“It’s disappointing - the fact that we gave up three tries - because our defence has been very solid all season, so that’s disappointing.
“Some of it was our own doing, some of it was that Edinburgh were playing to the very end as well.
“So it’s very much a bit of a mixed bag.
“If you’d offered up five points up at the start of the day, we would have been very happy with that.
Despite some deficiencies in defence, the attacking threat Leinster posed pleased Cullen.
“I thought a lot of guys really put their hands up today, put in some really good performances,” he added. “You’re always looking for more, obviously.
“But some guys looked good out there in attack and I thought we scored some nice tries.”
