At this stage of the season, results are more important than performances.
Leinster very much looked in pre-season form for much of their 34-6 win against the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium, but head coach Leo Cullen declare himself delighted to get in and out with a bonus-point win for the second week in a row.
After a poor first half in which his side laboured to a 10-6 lead, the province looked more assured as they ran in four second-half tries, with a second bonus-point win giving them maximum points through two games.
"Listen, we're pleased to get the win, five points, that's the most important bit at this stage of the season," the head coach said.
"Going into the game we would have been very conscious of Dragons. They made a lot of improvements, we watched their pre-season games, a lot of you would have seen their game last week against Ospreys, and they're showing a real physical edge to the way they're playing the game and they fronted up.
"It was a little bit of frustrating first half, even though we scored two decent tries.
"Second half, the focus was a bit clearer, there was a bit more intent in terms of our carry and work at the breakdown, which gave us some better opportunities.
"To score six tries, overall we're pretty pleased. We've chopped and changed our team a little bit in the first two rounds. We talked about the three academy players starting last week, two of them started today, two more came off the bench in Fintan [Gunne] and Aitzol [King], so there's lots of positives in that sense.
"Specifically today, if you'd offered it to us before the game, we'd be delighted, yeah."
Arguably more interesting than events on the pitch were the scenes in the coaching box, where club captain Caelan Doris sat among the coaches and analysts for the duration of the game.
In recent seasons, the Springboks have made a habit of bringing non-playing senior players into the coaches' box during games – Duane Vermeulen joined Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber there during Ireland's meeting with South Africa at last year’s World Cup, while captain Siya Kolisi has also joined management in watching games this season.
And Cullen says he’s hoping it gives the back row a new perspective on the flow of the game.
"We just wanted to give him an education as to some of the language as he's coming back in, the captaincy piece, that he has a clear understanding of what that looks like.
"Alignment is probably the best word. He's got some good thoughts and he's able to give a good view at half time which is what you want from your leaders."
