Leinster coach Leo Cullen has praised the versatility of Isa Nacewa and the contribution of Joey Carbery on his European debut as the province began their Champions Cup campaign with a win against Castres at the RDS.
The three-time European Champions scored five tries and with it a bonus point en route to a 33-15 victory over their French opponents.
With Leinster's powerful maul to the fore in the first half, it looked like Cullen's men would negotiate this hurdle with no difficulty as they ran in three tries.
However, the hosts suffered the double whammy of a penalty try and a Luke McGrath's yellow card right on the stroke of half-time, giving the French side a serious lift as they now only trailed 19-10.
Reflecting on that turn of events and the side's response, Cullen told RTÉ Sport: "I was disappointed with the try we gave away and then to lose Luke McGrath to the bin. That disrupted the flow for the start of the second half."
"We then used Isa at nine. There is no real end to his level of versatility. I thought he acquitted himself well and took his try well through the middle . That scored settled us down. It was a pleasing period."
Leinster had suffered a setback prior to the game when first choice fly-half Jonathan Sexton was ruled out with a hamstring injury but the highly-rated Carbery produced an accomplished performance in his absence and Cullen was delighted with the 20-year-old.
He added: "I thought Joey acquitted himself well. He's come into the team this year. He obviously made his debut last season, but he's come in in pre-season, and he's had a really good run of games, early season in the PRO12.
"He's getting better all the time, he works incredibly hard. He's a pleasure to coach, because you can see the energy that he brings.
"He's a brave player as well. I thought he went well again. Similar to what he's done so far this season. It wasn't a great surprise. We were just delighted that it was another positive experience for him, because he works hard and wants to get better."
As a former forward, Cullen would have been pleased with the way his forwards performed in the opening period in a dominant display, with hooker Sean Cronin scoring a pair of tries and loosehead Jack McGrath getting in on the scoring act on his 100th appearance for the province.
Summing up the collective, Cullen said: "We looked strong in the drive which was really pleasing because that is real area of strength for Castres and it's something we would have targeted during the week. Credit to the way the forwards applied themselves in that period."
