James Baird

"It's always tough if you get three injuries in one position, that really tests your depth. But it is what it is."

Leinster are used to dealing with injuries, the Six Nations seemed one long bulletin chronicling their Irish internationals stepping in and out.

However, losing RG Snyman for the rest of the season, right before the European Champions Cup opens, has been a blow.

The giant South African has been very much a point of difference for the Blues, a dominant second-row in his own right but, also and importantly, his beserker-warrior style is followed into the breaches.

Moreover it's a second-row loss in an area where Leinster's cover is thin - more so than any other.

With James Ryan carrying a knock and not training yesterday and Ryan Baird not having played since picking up an injury in the last week of November, events in Snyman's orbit weren't going to plan either.

"RG is an experienced player, a quality rugby player, that's the two things just coming into my head now that you will miss," says fellow countryman and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Jacques Nienaber with his Leinster hat on.

"It's always tough if you get three injuries in one position, that really tests your depth. But it is what it is.

"We're not the only team that that will happen to. So I think it happens to everybody somewhere along the season. So yeah, it's just something that we will have to manage."

The timing of Snyman's loss could have been worse, say before the semi-final or final; there is time to recalibrate for the Edinburgh game in the Champions Cup Last 16.

The Scottish club sits 13th of 16 in the URC, are 14/1 outsiders to pull off an upset on Sunday, and are just back from a gruelling trek to South Africa where they shipped 37 and 19-point defeats to Lions and Stormers respectively.

"Actually I think it's an interesting squad they have there," begins Nienaber of Edinburgh, "because I think if you look at the Edinburgh team that will probably face us, six of them played against Ireland in the last game of the Six Nations.

"They were also very competitive against Stormers for 60-65 minutes last weekend, so I think that's maybe something that if you go in with a mindset of 'listen, it's only Edinburgh' you could pay for it.

"They can put you to the sword like they did with Toulon. That's why they are in the Round of 16: they had tough games in their pool against Toulon, Bath, Castres, and Gloucester, and they advanced.

"That's something one will have to keep in mind, that they are a team that have good individuals and are well coached.

"It's the first time in three seasons that they actually got through to the knockout stages of the European Cup so although one can look at their season and say, maybe it's not that great.

"But if you look at that, it's the first time in three years they're there so they are there for a reason, one must treat them like that and we will have to treat them like that."

This comes with the idea Leinster are 'twitchy' at this point of the season.

Dear God, last season produced two wins to nil in the Champions Cup knockouts before an inexpliacable three-point semi-final Aviva defeat to Northampton.

A game Nienaber can't fuly explain - as of yet at least.

“I don’t know to be honest. You just have to be good on the day and in the mix at the back end of the game to be in position to win and sometimes you need a bit of luck.

"I think our preparation was good in that week and we had a bad spell of ten minutes where, 20 minutes into the game we leading 15-10 and then after 30 minutes, we were down 27-15.

"It’s one moment, or one patch, where you don’t get your stuff right and things can go quickly like that so, yeah, that’s it. It can go both ways."

Joe McCarthy will take up one of the second-row berths at the weekend with, should either or both of Ryan and Baird not make it, Diarmuid Mangan and Brian Deeny on standby.

Meanwhile, last week's win over Scarlets may have delivered the five points but the perfectionist in Nienaber wants more.

“Obviously from our point of view, two things that stand out looking back at the Scarlets game.

"Our discipline wasn’t great in the first 20 minutes, it improved later, and then I think we created some opportunities which we didn’t capitialise on.

"We consistently are working hard, trying to get better. We are in the knockout stages of Europe. If you don’t get it right, you’re gone.

"From the URC point of view, it’s tight, there is nine points separating positions one and four in the table, making it very congested. Every point from that perspective matters to get yourself in position for the knockouts."