David Kelly believes that Leinster's marshalling of Sebastien Chabal was vital to their opening Heineken Cup success in The Irish Independent.
"Ronan O'Gara was once asked about the best practice when confronted with a totemic opponent. "Hammer the hammer," came the reply. Sebastien Chabal is such a talisman. Munster hammered him en route to their maiden Heineken Cup triumph. Ireland hammered him en route to their 2009 Grand Slam.
"And on Saturday, despite early encouragement for the Captain Caveman of modern rugby against Jamie Heaslip, Leinster repeatedly hammered him in a most impressive opening statement in their latest European foray.
"At an RDS which rocked to its ancient foundations despite the indecently early kick-off, Leinster traded blows with their aristocratic visitors for a half-hour before a scintillating four-minute scoring burst that transformed a cagey 3-3 into an authoritative 18-3."
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