'Not much wrong with Welsh rugby'

And he insists his team can overturn Leinster in their Celtic quarter-final at Donnybrook tonight after falling to them twice in the Heineken Cup.

Newport, Neath (against Ulster at Ravenhill tonight) and Llanelli (against Munster in Limerick tomorrow) are the only Welsh sides to make the last eight.

And they are all away because they didn't perform sufficiently well in the pool stages. "It's very important for Welsh rugby that one of us gets through, and I hope we do and at least one other," said McIntosh.

"The Irish seem to have it right, but there's not much wrong with Welsh rugby. "It's a big plus for the Irish that they've all got home games, so we're playing catch-up. "Basically the Irish have been well prepared and have stolen a march on us.

"We were nowhere near the standard we should have been at the start and maybe that is a lesson we should learn for next year, though the gap is still narrowing."

McIntosh says revenge is not a motive for Newport, insisting again they will concentrate on their game in the belief they can end Leinster's unbeaten record.

"It's not about revenge, that's the wrong agenda, it's never been like that," he said. "They are all huge games, Toulouse here, Newcastle away, Swansea home, as well as the Leinster matches.

"But I'm a great believer in taking it game by game. Observing is the most important thing to perfect your game.

"It's what we do that counts. We respect Leinster very much and we know they're a good side.

"But we won't worry about them, we'll work on the way we want to play and instil that. If we do we'll be successful.

"Both games against Leinster were very close. It just wasn't going to be last time. "But our destiny is in our own hands, two silly penalties cost us the game last time and we've got to be more clever and more disciplined as penalties are as good as any tackles in a game.

"In the last game we were in their 22 on 20 occasions whereas they were in ours seven times, so we've got to make it count."