Leinster No.10 Jonathan Sexton played a key role in his side's triumph over Sarries at Wembley © Getty Images

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News: Hougaard set for lengthy lay-off

Match Pack: Leinster edge out Saracens

Matches: Saracens 23 - 25 Leinster

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Leinster | Saracens

Grounds: Wembley Stadium

Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter lashed out at the inconsistency of referees after his side's 25-23 Heineken Cup defeat by Leinster at Wembley on Saturday evening.

Enraged by referee Christophe Berdos' refusal to sin-bin any Leinster players during a spell of repeated infringements from the visitors, Venter called on the International Rugby Board (IRB) to ensure that the interpretation of the rules of the game do not vary from competition to competition.

"Before the Heineken Cup began, I asked if we would have a conference so all the officials from abroad were in tune as to the new interpretations of the laws," the South African said.

"Instead, we got some European referees in the Premiership, but there is a real danger that if we don't take action going into a World Cup year, the game of rugby is going to die, be killed stone dead because the public won't come to watch. We'll end up playing one type of rugby in the league, another in Europe and when you get to the World Cup, wait and see which referee you get.

"Last season we won 10 games in a row playing a kicking game, a horrible game to watch but necessary because the breakdown regulations favoured defending teams. I may consider returning to that in Europe because there is no system in place to complain about these problems and that makes it a flawed competition."

Venter's mood was hardly helped by the news that fly-half Derick Hougaard could miss the rest of the season after limping off just six minutes into the second half of the game at Wembley.

"Derick was terrific, but it looks serious, it may be a torn Achilles. I can only hope it is not but scans will reveal the extent of his problem," he said.

Meanwhile, Leinster fly-half Jonathan Sexton, who kicked 20 points and scored a try, was ecastatic after the 2009 champions managed to follow up their stirring win over Racing Metro in Dublin with an away win in London.

"This is a huge win for us, although we made it difficult for ourselves during the second half," he said. "But we were up against a very fine team with a strong home record in the Heineken Cup. We conceded soft penalties, but you could tell by the reaction of the boys in the changing room.

"In this competition you get what you can on the road and make sure to do the business at home. So to take four points from this game is massive."