Leinster coach Matt Williams described his side's 40-10 Heineken Cup victory over Toulouse tonight as the perfect response to critics of the Celtic League.

All four Irish provinces romped through the qualifying phase of the fledgling competition, but the worth of the tri-nation club tournament was questioned in some sections when the Irish national side was thumped by Scotland in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations last weekend.

Yet Williams saw the internationals in his side bounce back in style to run four tries past the formidable French champions in their opening European game at Donnybrook.

Williams said: "Anyone who criticised the Celtic League must be walking backwards now. We put 40 points on the board a lot in that competition - but now we've put 40 points on against a great side like Toulouse.

"We're obviously very pleased and very proud. But it's only a start, and we won't be popping any champagne corks yet."

Australian Williams praised Leinster's brave work in defence as Toulouse tried in vain to get back into the game after trailing 26-3 at half-time.

The Frenchmen grabbed a try back but failed to make any further inroads against Leinster's blue brick wall.

Williams added: "The defence was first class. Toulouse were a very a big side with heaps and heaps of pace. But we felt if we moved them round the ring, as it were, we'd be all right.

"If we went toe to toe with them we knew we'd lose but we boxed pretty smart tonight I thought."

Man-of-the-match Nathan Spooner, who kicked four penalties and four conversions - missing only one penalty kick on a wet and windy night in the Irish capital - felt the scoreline was a little flattering for his side.

"The first 50 minutes were very tough," he admitted.

"They're a big side, and our forwards did a magnificent job. We did a lot of defending in that third 20-minute spell, and those late couple of tries made the scoreline a lot better for us."