Heineken Cup Champions Leinster face Bath at the Rec in Round 3 and it will be a difficult encounter according to director of rugby Joe Schmidt.

Schmidt saw his Leinster side move to the helm of the Pro 12 table following their comprehensive victory over Cardiff Blues at the weekend but when asked about Leinster's trip to the Recreation Ground on Sunday, he acknowledged it will be a tough challenge for his side.

"Putting it in context and looking at the quality there is in Bath, it is going to be very tough ask next Sunday," he told ERC.

"It is over on a ground that is very sticky, it is hard to get a real momentum and I think that might slow us down a bit.

"That means it becomes a bit more of a grind, the scores tend to stay closer together and you have to stay fully concentrated throughout the full 80 minutes.

"They were probably pretty unlucky to lose to Glasgow as they had 60-65% possession and dominated territory. But that is the nature of Glasgow, you can't take them cheaply and they know how to fight for every inch.

"Occasionally they make those inches into yards like Richie Gray did with a fortuitous bounce at the end of the game.

"They lost that one and they had a tough work-out against Montpellier as well.

"Montpellier went close to knocking them over in the last five minutes when there was only three points between them. They will be grounded and gritty."

Leinster top Pool 3 after an opening draw away to Montpellier which was followed up by victory over Glasgow. Their opponents this weekend Bath sit just two points below them in the Pool and have registered one win and one defeat so far in this season's tournament.