Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienebar says their discipline has to improve as they head into the business end of the season.
The province have been one of the most penalised teams in this year's BKT United Rugby Championship, with only four sides giving away more than their 145 penalties through 14 games.
On its own, a penalty count of just over 10 per game isn’t overly worrying, but the position and timing of their infringements would be of greater concern.
With so many of their penalties being given up in quick succession inside their own 22, Leinster have received the joint-highest number of yellow cards in the league, averaging just over one per game, with 15 in 14 games.
Including their Champions Cup fixtures, they have been on the receiving end of 18 yellow cards in 18 matches, while they have also had one red card – Andrew Osborne’s sending off against Zebre in October, which was eventually rescinded.
On Friday night, second row Brian Deeny saw the sin-bin for the second game in a row, taking one for the team on 17 minutes after the Scarlets had scored their opening try, and after Leinster had given up a spate of penalties and advantages, and referee Aimee Barrett-Theron had lost her patience.
The Scarlets didn’t have enough quality to fully punish them, and their numerical advantage would only last six minutes as they picked up a yellow card of their own, as Leinster eventually battled their way to a 36-19 win.
Other days, they haven’t been let off the hook.
The previous week, Glasgow Warriors punished them in spectacular fashion at Scotstoun during an 11-minute period in the first half where Leinster lost Deeny and Rónan Kelleher to a pair of yellow cards, turning a the province’s 7-0 lead into a 26-7 deficit before Leo Cullen’s side could return to 15 players.
It was Leinster’s second defeat of the season where they had spent time down to 13 players at one stage. Four of their five defeats have been played with a player in the sin-bin, and three of those four have seen Leinster concede points in that period.
Of their 15 yellow cards in the URC, seven of them have come in games Leinster have lost.
"It was not good enough," Nienaber said, when asked about Leinster’s recent penalty count and yellow card count in their own 22 this week.
"I think if you look at even this weekend past against Scarlets, I think the two consistent things that we have to improve, obviously for me, is discipline for one, and then taking our opportunities, So I think we create some opportunities where we maybe don't nail it.
"Discipline is one thing that we definitely [are focusing on], the opportunities that we create - to finish them off, and getting alignment on that within our squad and then improving our discipline."
That collapse in discipline against Glasgow could prove costly down the line, with Leinster now fourth in the URC table with four games to play, nine points back from the Scottish league leaders.
The league will be parked for now, as the Champions Cup comes back into focus, although there will be a URC feel to this Sunday’s Round of 16 meeting with another Scottish side, Edinburgh.
"If you look at Edinburgh, if you look at the performances in the European competition, they had some good performances in the sense of beating Toulon at home and Gloucester. And that's why they're in the top 16," Nienaber (above) added.
"They had some great performances there.
"And even if you look at Scotland versus Ireland, the last game of the Six Nations, they had a couple of players playing there, I think six, there was a good amount of the Edinburgh players in that squad playing for Scotland.
"So I think they're a team that if you don't get your detail right on the day, and you're a little bit off, they’re a team with brilliant individuals and are well coached, it's the first time in three years that they're in the EPCR Round of 16, so they're a team that can put you away like they did against Toulon.
"If you don't pitch up with the right mindset and the right focus and good preparation, they will gladly put you to the sword."
