Although two things happened which shaped the game at Welford Road, in truth, little Leinster could offer would have silenced the Tiger's roar. In this game, the natural order re-established itself in front of 10,000 supporters. Leicester played closer than ever to their potential and Leinster buckled. Firstly, captain Kurt McQuilkin was forced out of the game in the 49th minute with blurred vision and then Austin Healy's audacious try just 10 minutes after coach Mike Ruddock had made a triple substitution, adding the fresh legs of James Blaney, Declan O'Brien and Ciaran Clarke, contrived to hinder further the efforts of an Irish team which was often operating in top gear merely to contain. Leinster will not now qualify for the quarter-final stages of the European Cup.

What went to plan for Ruddock's team at Donnybrook two weeks ago, went array for them in Leicester, particularly, in the last 40 minutes. The hits missed. The tackles were shrugged off or avoided. Possession was spilled with regularity and any attempt at an ambitious move was either misplaced or pulverised by the English side, who are now finally beginning to find some form. Some timing by Bob Dwyer.

McQuilkin's defensive skills and poise were missed when he came off and just when Ruddock needed a lift, having made his substitution decision nine minutes after the break, Healy waltzed through the fringe defence, chipped over the advancing Kevin Nowlan and chased down the ball for what looked very much like a fumbled touch down. Still, Frenchman Daniel Gillet gave the score for a 30-10 Leicester lead. The players then got their first glimpse of a match well out of reach.

Outclassed? Yes. Ruddock's assertion that Leinster are still at the bottom of a learning curve has veracity. Up against a starting line-up with nine senior internationals and four more on the bench, Leinster, despite under achieving, will face the disappointment with justifiable pragmatism.

"Between the two games, it took Leicester 125 minutes to score a try against us. If we can continue to travel the same distance, then we will be happy," said manager Jim Glennon afterwards.

Bob Dwyer, not known for being patronising, was encouraging. "I thought it was going to be difficult. I think Leinster are a very good tackling side and take the ball forward strongly. They've big forwards who hit hard and play with a lot of enterprise. A lot of people sold them short - but not us, that's for sure."

The Tigers got off to a good start during Leinster's best phase of the game - the first half. Joel Stransky accurately booted three penalties to punish the visitors early on for infringements - one off side and two accounts of playing grounded ball.

But Leinster were playing then with some cohesion with the raw Trevor Brennan typically hitting hard and the pack gelling abrasively and generating aggressive forward drives.

It was one such surge that led to Leinster's best move of the game. The ball was delivered from the base of the scrum, 10 yards from Leicester's line, and John McWeeney met it full pelt, using pace and upper-body strength to crash his way over for Leinster's first try. But Healy replied with a fine drop goal on 26 minutes, before Waisale Serevi kicked a penalty in the absence of Stransky, for a 15-7 half-time lead. Leinster were still in touch.

After the break, the tempo then visibly increased and fractures began to appear. Hooker Richard Cockerill, pugnacious and awesomely strong, along with Martin Johnson, Matt Poole, Neil Back and the mobile Eric Miller set up stall for their backs to take advantage - and that they did in a furious string of offensive runs.

Tries through Tim Barlow, Healy, Niall Malone and Graham Rowantree put Leinster to the sword. When Will Greenwood then sauntered through Martin Ridge and Ciaran Clarke, who was in for McQuilkin, their verbal exchange was evidence enough that even basic positioning, at the fag end of the match, was out of kilter.

That dominant phase allowed Dwyer to toy with seven substitutions, while Fijian international Serevi entertained the crowd with a ineffective, but athletic display of sevens-style rugby before Denis Hickie responded late in the game with two cosmetic scores. But even then, the late points could not mask the massive damage.

"Our skills let us down. We had plenty of possession, but we made too many basic errors. "Against a side like Leicester, you have to be precise. We didn't seem to play with the same grip that we had in Dublin. We didn't tackle with the same tenacity when we were under pressure," said Ruddock, knowing full well that this European Cup eluded Leinster last week in Milan and not in the harsh climate of Welford Road.