Dave Heffernan says Connacht are starting to the see the benefits from the home truths that were delivered during their tour of South Africa.
The set-piece dominance displayed in last weekend's win over Munster came less than a fortnight after forwards coach Dewald Senekal demanded his pack bring a greater physicality and "stop being the nice Connacht Irish boys that are fair play".
The Connacht forwards responded on their return to the Sportsground, lifting the roof with two early scrum penalties while Heffernan was on the money with all 14 of his lineout throws.
Bernard Jackman and Murray Kinsella analysed Connacht's performance against Munster on Against The Head
"It hurt hearing that from your coach," said Heffernan of Senekal’s comments. "That's the last thing you want to be questioned on.
"I thought we fronted up big time against Bulls and Munster, so there was reaction, but we did have a real honest conversation about that after the first week in South Africa because we weren't bringing that edge that we needed.
"As a pack overall, we had our review [of the Munster game] and were reasonably happy but there's plenty of room to improve.
"On a personal level, I was I was pretty happy with my form, it was pretty solid. I was a bit disappointed with some of my set-piece stuff in the first couple of games, so 100% at the weekend was definitely pleasing, but it doesn't mean much unless we build on it next week and in the games coming forward.
"It's definitely a big step in the right direction for us as a squad and as a pack but we need to keep building on that now."
It has been a demanding start to the season for Connacht and the big tests keep on coming, with BKT United Rugby Championship leaders Leinster visiting the Sportsground on Friday, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
The provinces faced each other four times last season with Leinster emerging victorious on each occasion. Three of those games were blowouts but the last meeting in Galway was a close-run affair, Connacht losing 26-21 in the first leg of their Champions Cup last-16 tie.
"We definitely felt we left a lot of scores behind us [in the first leg]," Heffernan said. "We showed great intent that day but we had a lot of errors.
"In the second game we weren't up to it. We weren't physical enough, we got dominated early on. If you don't match Leinster physically, they are going to put up a cricket score on you.
"You really need to be on the money in terms of physicality and accuracy to have any chance against them. That's what we know we have to deliver on at the weekend."
Heffernan will come up against a number of his Ireland team-mates on Friday, including fellow hooker Dan Sheehan, who has scored five tries in three matches this season.
Heffernan got see Sheehan’s talents up close during Ireland’s summer tour of New Zealand.
It was a historic tour for Ireland but Heffernan returned home with mixed emotions.
Having started the opening tour match against the Maori All Blacks, the 31-year-old then suffered a concussion just minutes after being introduced during the first Test against New Zealand and did not feature for the rest of the series.
"It was It was unreal to be over there and to be a part of that but personally to come off after about two minutes was a tough one to take," he said. "Then to be out of the next couple of games was frustrating, I won’t lie.
"I really enjoyed every minute of it. Getting to play that first Maori game was cool, even though the result didn’t go our way. Then to have to back it up three days later against the All Blacks. It’s something your dream about your whole life, playing against them.
"It was frustrating to come off after a couple of minutes but I definitely learned a lot over there. And it was a really special trip."
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