'We always knew we had it in us' - Leinster braced for Bulls showdown
MOMENTUM CAN BE everything in sport, and after a challenging month, Leinster feel the wind is back behind their sails as they face into a URC final meeting with the Bulls at Croke Park [Saturday, KO 5pm].
Yesterday's dominant semi-final dismissal of defending champions Glasgow Warriors saw the province burst back into life after a series of stodgy, unconvincing outings which came on the back of the devasting Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton Saints.
Against Glasgow Leo Cullen's men appeared to finally shrug that disappointment off. They were accurate, aggressive, and playing with pace again as they romped to a 37-19 win.
Captain Jack Conan was pleased with the effort, but knows they'll need another big performance to get the job done in Croke Park.
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'We always knew we had it in us,' Conan said.
It has obviously been a trying few weeks and a bit of disappointment, and we said we want to go out there and be our best. We prepped well all week and the message from the coaches and players was spot on.
'When you play a team you play quite frequently, and that gives it back to you in spades, there is that motivation to do your best. We spoke just about being physical and dominant and we were for the majority and that is really pleasing.
'We'll use this as another stepping stone for next week.'
Conan admitted the players took great satisfaction in rediscovering their form against the defending URC champions.
'It's fantastic. When we show up and are properly on it we are very hard to deal with. The game couldn't have started much better for us, Sammy's kickoff, Tommy's turnover into the corner. Lads paying on the gainline, it paid dividends.'
Now they find themselves just one game away from ending a four-year trophy drought, with the Bulls – who knocked Leinster out in last year's semi-finals – the final hurdle.
'Hugely (challenging) but it's never about them, it's about us and what we want to do,' Conan said.
'Even though it was good today it was disappointing to concede those two ties close to the end and there's lots of things we want to get better at.
'It will all count for nothing if we don't go on and win again and show that level of dominance that we did today. We're not getting ahead of ourselves, we know it is going to be a tough task next week.'
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