Ireland international Jonathan Sexton’s late drop goal ensured a 17-14 victory, but masked a below-par performance from the Magners League leaders.

And with a trip to Thomond Park on Friday to face Munster next on the agenda in the league, before a Heineken Cup quarter final date with Clermont Auvergne, Cheika is adamant improvements must be made if Leinster are to have any chance of landing some silverware this year.

"We have to improve our physicality," said Cheika. "They outmuscled us and that is something we've worked on hard over the years to build and I think we're very good at it now but we had an off day.

"We were lucky (to win). Players know we need to improve so much, we can either use it as a positive or we can wallow in it.

"This will fix the minds, it's about how we react to it. In no way am I going to sit here and say 'a win's a win', that was mediocre at best."