Jack Conan believes that Leinster are mentally and physically ready to lift the Champions Cup again on May 20.
Conan put the Blues on their way to a seventh final with his quick-fire brace of tries on Saturday, two of four scores successfully executed while last four opponents Toulouse had a man in the sin-bin and five overall at the Aviva Stadium.
The last team standing in their way are La Rochelle, another ultra-formidable Top 14 outfit - the one guided by Ronan O'Gara that got the better of Exeter Chiefs yesterday.
READ MORE: La Rochelle set up final date with Leinster after seeing off Exeter
It is the one that has had Leinster's measure over the past two years, seeing off the province in the 2021 semi-final and the 2022 final.
Those defeats are part of a heart-breaking series in knock-out games endured by Leo Cullen's side going back to their last final victory in 2018. After winning in their first five final appearances, Leinster are now desperate to avoid a third on the spin.
"Leinster Rugby prides itself on its European pedigree and we really haven’t been on the level in some regard in the last few years," acknowledged Conan.
"We’ve fallen short a good few times, 2019...all the years really, but 2019 and last year in finals. We’re massively excited to right a few wrongs and lads are in such a good mental headspace more than anything.
"There’s such clarity and calmness in everything we do. We’re able to stay neutral, stay in the moment and just focus on what’s in front of your face, be where your feet are and just worry about that.
"It’s great, we’ve taken a lot of learnings from the Irish set-up that we’ve implemented here and we’re not 100% at that level but we’re pushing to be at that consistently. Our forward pack in particular has stood up over the last 12 months.
“I know we probably weren’t at the level last year in the La Rochelle final but our maul and the scrum and our D (defence) in the maul has really come on in leaps and bounds.
"Ross Byrne, ice in his veins, was knocking over the points for fun on Saturday so look, fantastic performance for us, we’re very happy with how we went.
"You look at Toulouse, you’ve obviously got a lot of quality internationals - not just French players, Australian players, Jack Willis is an England player - so they’ve massive quality across the board, so we knew coming out here it would be like a top-tier international game with the quality of both sides.
"We’re disappointed to concede a try in the end but it’s a fantastic test playing these big French sides.
"It’s probably a question people have had about us over the last few years that we haven’t been able to front up against bigger men, but I don’t think you could say that today or in the last few months.
"We’re in a great spot, super excited, we are where we want to be.”
Conan, 30, has recently spoken of his struggle to find his best form and fitness until a hormone imbalance was diagnosed - then his battle to rediscover his focus on when it was.
But things clicked back into place in the final rounds of the Six Nations for the back row and he was at his rampaging best on Saturday.
“Yeah, I’d like to think so but I was still blowing pretty hard...but I think everyone was, it was a tough old game in that first 40 minutes," he smiled.
"I’m feeling better and I’m mentally dialled in a bit more than I was previously and I feel like it’s coming to fruition for me out on the pitch.
"They are the first tries I’ve scored for Leinster in over a year so it was nice to get over the whitewash today and be part of an incredible team performance - not just myself, but all the lads were really on the money.
"We know we needed to be to beat such a quality side in Toulouse who are one of the best clubs in Europe and the world.
“We’re delighted, it puts us in a great position for the final in a few weeks but now the focus goes back to the URC and the quarter-final against the Sharks."
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