Leinster scored five tries as they cruised to their first win of the season, but it was their defensive efforts in the 31-5 win against the Sharks that pleased Leo Cullen most.
The province gave up 10 tries and 74 points in their opening defeats to the Stormers and Bulls in South Africa, a tally they needed more than six games to concede last season.
They looked disciplined behind the ball in their 31-5 win against the Sharks this evening though, with the visitors' only score coming from an opportunistic interception by wing Ethan Hooker.
And Cullen was thrilled with how his side stayed connected in defence throughout the game.
"It was going to be a tough start for us," the Leinster head coach told RTÉ Sport.
"When you look at the season, the schedule right from the off, we're away in South Africa, you have a lot of moving parts in terms of guys returning. This week was going to be a short week and you're up against a team that's been in Europe for the last couple of weeks.
"The defence overall [was impressive], particularly off the back of the last couple of weeks where we got cut up a bit cheaply at different parts of our game. You concede four tries one week and six the following week, so 10 tries.
"The ledger is looking a little bit better. We're still on negative points difference for the first three games. As I said, we have plenty to work on."
The province’s attack also clicked at the Aviva, particularly in the first half as they cruised out to a 21-0 lead thanks to tries from Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien and captain Josh van der Flier.
"It's going to be a bit of a disjointed start to the season, but we're delighted to be back here at Aviva. I thought it was a pretty decent performance.
"It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but there's lots of good parts to it, lots of good intent, we scored some good tries, and left a few out there, it’s probably fair to say.
"It was a short week in terms of prep-wise and trying to build the team together.
"It's a step in the right direction and all those guys will hopefully be better for the experience today. They've all come through, touch wood, in one piece.
"We're through now and hopefully the wider group will be better for the experience, but we still have a long way to go," he added.
Osborne and Van der Flier (above) were among five of their British and Irish Lions contingent who made their first appearances of the season, while Andrew Porter, Jamison Gibson-Park and Garry Ringrose also took part in the warm-up as emergency reserves.
And with Leinster heading for Croke Park next week for their first Interpro of the season against Munster, Cullen says he’s expecting even more of his frontline stars to be available.
"We have a great test this week. Munster in Croke Park will be a great occasion, we hope, once again.
"It's one of those fixtures that's so special in the sporting calendar in general, not just the rugby calendar. Let's hope we'll be well supported from both teams and we get another magic day out there.
"It'll be a great challenge because those guys have probably been a bit more cohesive [than us] at this moment in time.
"We'll need to make sure that we work hard this week and put a good plan together to play well at the weekend."
