Hugo Lloris' costly blunder at Anfield provided some welcome respite for Dan Leavy as he contemplates watching the World Cup from home in September.
Luke McGrath was one of a number of Leinster players who rallied around Leavy at his home on Sunday after he suffered an horrific knee injury in the previous day's Champions Cup victory over Ulster.
Leavy, 24, had only returned from a long-term absence the week before but, within 10 minutes of coming on as a second half sub on Saturday, he had to be carried off with what Leinster described as a "complex" ligament injury.
So influential last year in Ireland's Grand Slam triumph and the subsequent Champions Cup and PRO14 double for Leinster, the Dublin-born flanker will be further assessed next week.
But his province have already ruled him out for the rest of the season and for the World Cup.
"I was over in his house, watching the Liverpool game, that was the only good thing," explained scrum-half McGrath, who popped over for the second half with Noel Reid.
"Dan's a big Liverpool fan - he watched that goal go in the end, he was happy.
"But he's gutted. I was absolutely gutted for him - with the extent of the injury, he has a long spell out ahead of him.
"He's very down at the moment, and it's important for us as a team to support him as much as we can in this difficult time for him.
"He has to see a specialist but it's gutting, seeing him there.
"It's unfortunate, such a long spell. He'll have little short-term goals, however long it is - six or nine months, whatever it is.
"That's the kind of challenge that awaits him. But there's such good staff here, the rehab guys are brilliant, they'll take him through what's needed. It's important we try and stay positive with him as much as we can."
But the mood around Leinster HQ yesterday morning was "odd" and "bizarre", admitted McGrath.
It was a mixture of disappointment for Leavy's plight and an understanding that a repeat of the performance against Ulster will result in a semi-final defeat at the hands of Toulouse - even with the advantage of being back at Lansdowne Road for the game.
The clubs met in the pool stages, with both winning at home.
“If we’re honest with ourselves, I don’t think our defence would have won us the semi-final," confessed McGrath.
“We definitely rode our luck at times on Saturday. We’ll have to be better in all areas.”
McGrath himself has only just returned after two months out so he missed out on the Six Nations and had to watch Conor Murray, John Cooney and Kieran Marmion all get game time in his position.
The 26-year-old insists he is not worrying about the World Cup.
“We have our own certain goals here at Leinster and that is what we’re trying to focus on when we’re here," McGrath said.
“If you’re playing well here, you get picked up by Ireland. That’s always the goal.
“If you're picked, you will definitely deserve to be there on the plane.
"Every player wants to be out there playing and it's very hard to watch at times from the sidelines.
“For me, after having that lay-off, I just have to concentrate on getting back to full fitness, back to playing more game time. It’s kind of one game at a time for me, at the moment".
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