We have moved into the ‘us against the world’ phase of Leinster’s season, with Joe McCarthy offering an insight into the province’s outlook after Saturday’s win over Glasgow Warriors when saying “we know everyone loves to hate Leinster”. Whatever about hatred, it’s clear that people outside of the province – and indeed some within the 12 counties – find it increasingly difficult to like the well-oiled machine in blue; an operation that ruthlessly harnesses its demographic advantages to produce a squad that includes the majority of the Ireland team, mostly drawn from a handful of private schools, a couple of world-class imports and most of the best young talent in the country.