Saturday is all that counts says Hines

Michael Cheika's much-fancied outfit suffered a surprise defeat at home to London Irish last Friday with European rugby followers already attempting to guess how many points the holders will now need to qualify for the knockout stages.

But Hines, who joined Leinster from Perpignan this summer, says he and his team-mates are not being drawn into that trap. Instead, they are simply concentrating on winning the next game - a tough encounter against the 1997 Heineken Cup winners in central France.

"We've just got to go and win the game," said Hines, who toured South Africa with the British & Irish Lions this summer and has previously played Heineken Cup rugby with Edinburgh.

"We target every game as a win. Forget about Munster, forget about London Irish and just try and get the win.

"So that's all we're worried about - the challenge on Saturday.

"If you start worrying about all the points you need and all that sort of stuff then you've half-beaten yourself already, so just go to Brive with a mindset to win."

Brive were on the wrong end of a 24-12 scoreline against the Scarlets in Llanelli in round one but Hines is not expecting an easy ride against a side making their return to the Heineken Cup following an 11-year absence.

Having played in France for four years with current French Champions Perpignan, Hines has a better understanding than most of the passion Brive will bring to Saturday's encounter.

And the Australian-born 32-year-old was quick to dismiss talk that Brive's defeat in West Wales will lead them to turn their focus away from Europe's premier club competition.

"Brive went pretty well against Llanelli," added Hines.

"If they were going to give a game away, it would have been that one, the first game away, so I'm pretty sure they'll be targeting this game, as we are, to win.

"When I played with Perpignan there was never any suggesting that we weren't focusing on the game ahead.

"Obviously, the result on the weekend, Perpignan being beaten by Treviso (was a surprise) but I don't think there's an attitude where they say that the Heineken Cup is less important than the Top 14."