Former Ireland prop Mike Ross believes Jacques Nienaber's fingerprints are all over Leinster’s impressive start to the season as their defence shut down La Rochelle to secure a fine 16-14 win in France on Sunday.
Leo Cullen and his players had to endure a nervy finale as Ronan O’Gara’s charges pushed for a winning score, but in the end they added another notable result to the list as they made it three wins from three in their Investec Champions Cup pool.
The hosts were held to a meagre 14 points on Sunday, their joint lowest home tally this season alongside their Top 14 loss to Vannes back in November.
Even with O’Gara’s side managing just 14 points, it was the third highest tally that the Irish province have conceded in 12 games this season with opponents failing to reach double figures on five occasions already.
For Ross, that owes a lot to Nienaber’s influence.
"Defence wins games and certainly Nienaber’s defensive style that he has brought with him has been incredibly effective," he told RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland.
"Watching some of their defensive sets, they're incredible. La Rochelle started five yards out from the Leinster line and by the end of it they were back out on the 22.
"The line speed that they bring, the amount of competition that goes on for the ball at the rucks, which also slows down the offence ball – Garry Ringrose absolutely hammering a few guys in the tackle."
It was the sixth meeting between the two sides since 2021 with Leinster easing some of the pain of back-to-back Champions Cup final defeats to the French outfit with two victories last season, including a 16-9 win at the same venue.
Ross believes that consistency will build confidence as the campaign progresses towards knockout rugby.
"Over the last number of years a great rivalry has developed between La Rochelle and Leinster," he said.
"They have been the bogey team for us the last number of years, beating us in two finals, so it was great to get the win and get the win over there.
"I know we did it last year but it reinforces that it wasn’t a flash in the pan."
Ross also had a word of praise for Munster after their hard-fought win over Saracens at Thomond Park on Saturday.
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It's a one-point game for only 4-minutes. Munster leading by 8 thanks to a Hodnett try.
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He said: "Saracens aren’t the force they used to be, they’ve been having mixed results over the last number of weeks, but they’re still a very dangerous team.
"They went 9-3 up and I thought it was a long way back for Munster but they fought really hard and scored some really good tries, especially the last one where (John) Hodnett went over from a nice crossfield kick from (Jack) Crowley.
"They’ll be delighted down there with that, I think it puts them into the knockout stages now and once you’re in there anything can happen."
