Leinster plan on hitting Kings where it hurts
Champions Leinster will not take their foot off the pedal against the Isuzu Southern Kings even though they are a massive 44 points ahead of the struggling South Africans on the Conference B table.
After being crushed 43-0 by Munster in their last Guinness Pro14 outing, the Kings will again have their backs to the wall in Dublin on Friday.
Despite their healthy position at the top of the table, Leinster’s coaching staff were not happy with their team’s intensity when they beat Zebre in Italy last week.
The Irishmen cruised into a 21-point lead in Viadana, but they saw that advantage whittled away by the Italians before they ran out 40-24 winners.
Leinster scrum coach John Fogarty insists there must not be a repeat of that second quarter fall-off against Zebre.
“Last Saturday was frustrating at times for us,” he said.
“We started quite well, and Points lead by Leinster then we had this lull in the second half of the first half. There was probably a bit of a mental drop and that led to us getting into trouble in different parts of the game.
“So I think everyone across the board was frustrated with that.
“We gave them life in the game and they took advantage of it. They had a good, attacking brand of rugby, but it was very frustrating looking back at it now.
“And that’s what we were talking about how we let that happen. Mentally did we drop off and what are our cues to make sure that does not happen again.
“That’s what we discussed going forward to the Kings. I think that’s the focus, to build on our performance.”
Dave Kearney played fullback for Leinster last Saturday, but after the game presented with what the province has described as minor concussive symptoms, and he is undergoing return to play protocols.
Kings medical staff said head coach Deon Davids had no major injury problems to consider before naming his team on Thursday.