Leinster react well to shock opener

Having stormed led the Magners League outfit to continental glory in May of this year, Leinster began the current campaign as one of the tournament favourites.

But a shock home defeat to London Irish in the opening round of action led critics to question their credentials and suggest that an early exit may well be on the cards for the Dubliners.

Since then, Leinster have been in imperious form, racing to a bonus point win against Brive in France in Round 2, before claiming the maximum 10 points from their double header with the Scarlets.

"We have reacted well since London Irish," said Cheika.

"We haven't panicked. We just got back to our game. We had to make some difficult decisions on certain games and we have also had to try and build for the league as well.

"So, bar that first Heineken Cup game we have done well - I'm happy that we're still in it."

But while Cheika admits that the champions' current form is particularly pleasing, he and his players have no intentions of getting carried away.

Leinster still have to host Brive before travelling to London Irish in the final round of the pool stages for what could well be a winner takes all fixture.

And with five games still left to play before they can celebrate joining Leicester Tigers as the only side to defend the Heineken Cup, Leinster know the hard work is still to come.

"There is a good togetherness and maturity but, at the same time, there are still massive things for us to do. There are some big games coming up in January," added Cheika.

"There's no point in being happy now and not being happy at the end. We got ourselves into a hole losing that first game at home and we still have a lot to do to get out of it.

"We used our get-out-of-jail card. We used it down in France last year (when Leinster lost to Castres) and we used it too early.

"We understand that there are still big challenges ahead of us. No one is getting carried away."