Leo Cullen says Leinster have taken a "step in the right direction" with their bonus-point win against the Sharks, but admits his side still looked a bit rusty as they picked up their first victory of the season.
Leinster rebounded from last week's defeat to Glasgow by running out comfortable 34-13 winners against the South Africans at the RDS, as two tries for Rob Russel, and one each for Jordan Larmour, Max Deegan and Tommy O'Brien saw them pull clear in the second half.
"We're up and running which is nice, and good for this group as well because they put in a lot of good work over pre-season," the Leinster head coach told RTÉ Sport.
Cullen's side led 12-6 at half time, with Larmour and Deegan getting over for first half tries, but the crucial period came just after half time when hooker Lee Barron was sin-binned for head contact on Sharks hooker Kerron van Vuuren.
A mistake from Sharks out-half Curwin Bosch let Leinster off the hook, and they won the 10-minute period 3-0, with flanker and captain Scott Penny even throwing into the lineout on several occasions.
"I think Scott [Penny] was excellent today with how he led the team and put in a performance for us, but in particular with how we handled that, on multiple levels.
"I'm pleased with how we managed that period because the game was a little bit sticky, we were a little fortuitous with how Bosch kicked the ball dead and that allowed us clear our lines.
"We probably rode our luck on a few different occasions but we’ll take it and it’s a positive step from where we were this time last week."
Penny had been captaining a largely inexperienced side at the RDS; starting loosehead Jack Boyle and hooker Lee Barron came into the game with a combined 11 appearances and their front row replacements were equally inexperienced. Props Paddy McCarthy and Rory McGuire both made their debuts last week, while Clontarf's Dylan Donnellan was drafted in from the All-Ireland League side this week to cover hooker.
In spite of this the Leinster's front-five more than held their own, and Cullen was pleased with how they fronted up after a chastening experience in Glasgow a week ago.
"A couple of guys made debuts last week, and Dylan Donnellan making his debut this week which is a very positive story, two academy players and one player coming in from club the week of the game.
"All those guys are working incredibly hard with Robin McBryde, it's been a good opportunity for a few of those guys, we have a couple of senior props who have injuries at the moment, which allowed this opportunity for guys, and it’ll serve us well in the future.
"There’s no easy way for a front row to get in there on the board and get those caps, you have to get in and have the odd bad experience.
"We were under a bit of pressure last week, but they responded excellently this week.
"The scramble was good and that’s very pleasing. All those bench guys were adding impact which is important. It’s a step in the right direction for us, but we just need to keep building," he added.
The province return to the RDS next Saturday when they host Edinburgh, but while Cullen (below) was pleased with how his side stayed patient, he believes they will need a much more rounded performance going forward.
"There were lots of opportunities out there for us, which was good, lots of good build-up. A few times we weren't accurate enough, still some basic errors in our game which you probably get at this time of the season, we just need to make sure we improve week on week, as we get towards tougher and tougher challenges as the season goes on.
"Every team is at that point, a little bit rusty from both teams but it's definitely an improvement on where we were last week, a lot more composed, particularly inside the opposition 22.
"We had a good, physical game and the Sharks will always bring good physical intent to their play and challenged us on a lot of occasions."
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