James Lowe says that Leinster must capitalise on having home advantage all the way to the Champions Cup final by claiming their fifth crown.
Lowe loves the comfort of playing in Ballsbridge - be it at the RDS or at Leinster's home from home, the Aviva Stadium.
The Lansdowne Road ground is where they played Ulster in the last 16 last Saturday, where they will play Leicester Tigers in the quarter-finals on Friday night and where they will stay for the semi-final and the final if they keep winning.
READ MORE: Leinster confirm Aviva capacity will remain at 27,000 for Leicester Tigers clash
Playing away can add different elements to the matchday equation, and Ireland's Grand Slam winning winger recalls how that was the case when Leinster went to Welford Road at the same stage in the competition last year.
"It's such a tough place to play," Lowe said. "It was unfortunate because of Covid, we couldn't field a team against Montpellier so we weren't a higher seed, so we had to play away (against Leicester).
"The pitch is tight, I think it's like 65 metres.
"Then it was an absolutely beautiful spring day but, for some reason, the grass was probably an inch thick, it was wet all of a sudden - little things like that where you (the home team) get to dictate the game you want to play."
Leinster still won 23-14, having blitzed the Tigers in the first half. But Lowe knows where he'd rather be for this latest encounter on Good Friday.
"Having the luxury of playing at home is awesome," said the 30-year-old.
"Mate, if you give us an absolute carpet to play on and don't water it an hour before the game, we're pretty confident going into it.
"We've put ourselves in a great position to play at home for the next knock-out games we're a part of, so we need to really capitalise on that.
"I'm fortunate enough to be in a pretty good side, so if you're not enjoying it at the moment then you're probably in the wrong field of work. We're playing with a bit of confidence - and you've got boys in every position who are arguably playing their best footy, so it's going well."
It is going so well that Leinster have yet to taste defeat this season. Even with all their Ireland frontliners away for their last URC clash against the Springbok-laden Sharks, the province earned a draw.
Such dominance can breed complacency, but Lowe insists that won't happen in Leinster's case because of the professionalism of the players.
"You've got to understand there's a bit of a target on your back and I think we deserve it, but everyone's there trying to pick us apart however which way they can," he said.
"We know we've got a pretty good game plan, a good understanding of what we're trying to achieve - and if you don't do your homework and understand what the other team is trying to do, you're setting yourself up to fail.
"So now this time of season is when it really matters. No one's going to remember that we were unbeaten for 20-odd games if you don't have any trophies at the end to show for it.
"'The next game is the most important' is the cliché - but it's knock-out footy and we need to not spoil the fact we've put ourselves in a great opportunity."
Lowe knows only too well that Leinster have been here before. He was in the side that last won the Champions Cup in 2018 but, since then, the Blues have lost two finals - to Saracens the following year, and to La Rochelle last year.
"Yeah and fair play, the two finals we've lost, we came up against pretty bloody good teams," he said.
"Saracens were better on the day and La Rochelle were better on the day. We've got to make sure that if we do get another opportunity in a knock-out game that we're the better team on the day.
"It's the amazing thing about knock-out rugby, it's beautiful and cruel at the same time, so we're looking forward to the challenge on Friday.
"Six-day turnaround, a lot of it's going to be probably more mental than physical but the boys are in a good place and we've got, I think, a decent game plan to make sure we can do a job on Friday."
Meanwhile, staying glued to the Masters will constitute much of Lowe's matchday build-up ahead of tomorrow's big game.
He is a massive golf fan and one of the players he will be watching out for at Augusta is Ryan Fox, his fellow Kiwi - and son of Grant, the former World Cup winning All Black out-half.
"Ah, Saturday is Moving Day at the Masters, which would have been awesome to watch all day," Lowe smiled. "But no, the game is on Friday, I'll just be watching golf (beforehand).
Fox was twice a runner-up in the Irish Open, losing out in a play-off in 2018 and again last summer
"Yeah, I follow him and I watch him," said Lowe. " He hits the ball very, very well, a lot better than me anyway. He's a master.
"His father was a decent rugby player as well, by all accounts."
Now that he's getting some lessons, Lowe is finding his feet on the course too.
"My golf is getting better, I've got a couple of lessons up in Leopardstown and it's improved exponentially.
"It's crazy how much you thought you knew before a professional tells you how bad you are, but no, we're getting there. I'm taking money off boys at the moment, people aren't happy that I can hit a golf ball now!".
Josh van der Flier is regarded as the squad's best golfer and Lowe laughed: "I was actually going toe to toe with Josh on the front nine and then he shot two under on the back nine.
"Like, a little bit of sledging and he turned it up. So he's quite good!".
Lowe believes that because rugby players are used to constant analysis, they are open to learning in other fields - such as golf.
"I genuinely think that," he said. "After my first lesson I went back in with so many things to ask the instructor, and he was just like, 'Jesus, you guys are going to take me out of a job if you keep doing this'!".
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