While Leinster were one of just two BKT United Rugby Championship sides to register wins in the opening round of games in the Investec Champions Cup, it was a much more fruitful weekend for their Premiership counterparts.
Of the eight Premiership teams in the Champions Cup, seven of them recorded wins, which is the league's best strike-rate for a single round in the history of the tournament. The only side that were left disappointed were Saracens, although there was no shame in their 27-16 defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria.
Arguably the most impressive of the Premiership winners at the weekend were the Sale Sharks, who breezed past Stade Francais 28-5 on Sunday, to continue their bright start to the season.
Having come close to a Premiership title last season, Alex Sanderson's side have made a hot start to this campaign, leading the English league after eight games, before getting off the mark in Europe against the Parisians.
Leinster welcome the Sharks to the RDS on Saturday, where both sides will be aiming to take firm control of Pool 4, and Leinster's attack coach Andrew Goodman says the challenge the visitors pose will be sure to bring his side back down to earth after their impressive win against La Rochelle on Sunday (below).
"We need to keep getting better every week, you can't take your foot off the throat at all in this competition or you'll get stung," the assistant coach said.
And Goodman believes their "slogfest" in the rain in France has toughened them up against a side will be equally physical.
"We've had a good day around making a plan, working for Sale, so hopefully it'll be a little drier and a little less windy than what we had on Sunday.
"The differences they have in the game, around how they defend and the two-man tackles, but it's not much different to La Rochelle in that aspect, they bring a lot of linespeed so we've been looking at that and how we can try to break it down.
"Up front they'll be a good mauling team that will look to back themselves, scrum-wise they've won a lot of penalties there, the same as La Rochelle. There's just a lot of little things we need to be over as well."
Leinster can boast a formidable record against Premiership sides in recent years, sweeping past Leicester Tigers, Gloucester, Bath and Northampton Saints in recent seasons.
But Goodman expects the Sharks to be circling this Saturday evening in Dublin.
"It's a game we're really excited about playing; top of the Premiership, finalists last year and have a real clear DNA around how they play, they're strong up front.
"They kick really well obviously, Ford's a class operator in terms of the way he pulls the strings. I've enjoyed watching them play over the last couple of years, they have got some nice strike-plays they use, some dangerous backs, and it's been good to preview them as an opposition rather than watching them from afar in the last couple of years. I'm excited about going up against them at home.
"They're one of the form teams in the Premiership, Manu's back in the mix there and they have some strike power right across the field," he added.
Follow a live blog on Exeter v Munster in the Champions Cup on Saturday from 1pm on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to radio commentary on Saturday on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra (first half) and RTÉ Radio 1 (second half).
Watch Leinster v Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
