There will be no let up says Schmidt

No wonder Schmidt was please to have stretched the lead to nine points at the top Pool 3, but he knows that 20 points might not be enough to get a home draw.

"I am delighted to get the result today even though there were imperfections in the performance. But the players deserve to be proud of what they did," said Schmidt.

"It was every bit as tough as I expected. We knew it was going to be a battle of attrition and that's how it turned out.

"We wanted to up the tempo if we could but it was difficult on a heavy pitch. I knew they would go hard in the collision area and they were very good in that area - they made life very difficult for us and it was fairly brutal at times.

"I was worried at all stages and at 6-3 we had only had two visits to their 22. To be 6-3 down was a concern and then it was great to make it 6-6 with the last kick of the half.

"It was a great little kick by Jonny Sexton, and a great finish by Rob Kearney, to get that try just after the interval and that allowed us to get our noses in front." Next up are the only team to have stopped the champions from notching four or five points in a game this season, Montpellier. It took a last gasp penalty from Sexton to secure a draw in France in Round 1 and Schmidt is expecting another tough battle as he urges his team on to secure that home quarter-final.

"We will glue ourselves back together for next weekend and chase a home quarter-final in front of a full house at the RDS. Having a home draw is so often pivotal to team's chances," admitted Schmidt..

"But there can also be a danger of people feeling that if you get a home quarter-final it is a fait accompli. We limped over the line against Leicester Tigers last year so we will continue to look at one game at a time.

"At the start of the season we said that we were just another contender for the tile. We enjoyed being champions in the summer and it is great we will be among the eight left to try to win the Heineken Cup."