James Lowe claims that Leinster could have turned up in Le Havre an hour before kick-off last Saturday and still skinned Racing 92.
As it was, the Blues didn't get to their hotel until 11pm on the eve of the game, after 16 hours of weather disrupted travel.
"It was a bit of a s***show, let’s be honest," said Lowe.
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In colourful fashion, the Ireland winger recalled the events of an eventful Friday.
"You turn up to Dublin Airport and there are 3-400 people there and you’re thinking ‘well, our flight’s probably not going to come’," said the Ireland winger.
"We’re sitting around and people – not us - are having a few glasses of wine and tequila and all that.
"Dublin Airport was chaos. We managed to get on the flight after a couple of hours when they had defrosted everything.
"Finally took off and then it felt like we were just going in circles - I think the pilot was scared to tell us that there was too much fog and then we’re outside of Paris - ‘Yep, there’s a bus waiting'.
"There’s no bloody buses because it’s eight o’clock on a Friday night.
"We finally get to the hotel pretty late at night. All through the day we were just laughing and wondering ‘Jeez, what’s going to happen next?’ sort of thing."
Nevertheless Leinster went out the following afternoon and hammered the current Top 14 leaders, a statement victory on the opening weekend of the Champions Cup campaign.
The Blues scored six tries in a 42-10 demolition at Stade Oceane.
"Woke up Saturday morning, the boys were ready to go," explained Lowe. "You could see that in their eyes - we could have turned up an hour before kick-off.
"The performance was probably a reflection of the week and the preparation we had done.
"I had a feeling that a performance like that was going to come no matter what.”
Lowe added: "You can’t go into the European Cup not thinking you are going to win a game.
"Going away to France is very difficult at the best of times and the last time we had played Racing was in a European Cup final and I know that still hurts (them).
"We were just stoked to get there and then put in a performance that we had planned throughout the whole week. We knew them inside out and it came down to doing the basics.
"The fact that the forwards hit 25 out of 25 in the lineout probably shows mentally where the boys were at.
"Fair play, they stood up and then we were able to score a few points.”
In contrast, provincial rivals Ulster had their own travel difficulties and were forced to travel in three separate groups to Manchester on game day last Sunday, where they were beaten 39-0 by Sale Sharks.
“It’s very hard for me to comment on what they did," Lowe said. "Ulster are still a fantastic side.
"They had to land in three different airports and still two hours before a game, that’s very difficult and disjointed.
"We were together the whole time and still chewing the fat with each other and making sure we had got across everything.
"It’s a shame they weren’t able to put in a performance. Sale are a very combative side."
Leinster themselves face Premiership opposition on Friday night, albeit at home, in the form of Gloucester.
Lowe admits the group has touched on maintaining last weekend's standards.
"We looked back to a couple of years when we had Wasps at the RDS, we put 50 on them then went to Toulouse and lost," he said.,
"So now we've gone and put 40 on a good Racing side, it's about coming back and making sure that doesn't matter.
"What matters is how you prepare throughout the week for another performance of equal calibre."
Leinster and other teams have struggled to do that in the past, so is it difficult to do?
"But it's your job as well," stressed Lowe. "We get three days off after, we haven't had three days off in a long time.
"So you know that everything is geared towards Friday, then you get to enjoy a bit of time off with family and then come back in and prep again for Munster.
"It's all part of being a professional athlete, a professional rugby player, and you're at one of the best teams in Europe so it's what's expected."
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