Schmidt was the first to accept his side had stuttered over the line but insisted it was the internationals in his side that had made the difference.

"We kind of clumsied it out a little bit, but we managed to close it out," said Schmidt. "I think some of the more experienced guys really helped the younger guys and the younger guys sparked us to get over the line.

"It's been a fantastic October. We just had to make sure that we got that five-in-a-row and we had massive support from the players in the international set-up. Jonny Sexton ran water for us, and his knowledge and experience was getting on to Ian Madigan.

"That's part of the squad ethos at the moment. We're playing for each other, helping each other out and that's important."