Garry Ringrose says Leinster adopted a 'no excuses' approach to Saturday's clash with Racing after all their travel problems.
The Blues were delayed for five hours in Dublin Airport on Friday, then spent an hour and a half in the air over Le Havre before their plane was diverted back to Paris, where they had a one hour wait before taxis took them back to Le Havre.
They only got to their hotel at 11pm on the eve of the match and so missed their Captain's Run at Stade Oceane - but it didn't matter as they crushed Racing for a winning bonus point start to their Champions Cup campaign, clocking up six tries in a 42-10 hammering of the off-colour Top 14 side.
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"I'm really proud of the lads, we were presented with a few difficulties but we were determined to not let that be an excuse," said Ringrose.
"But we only really knew when the game kicked off whether that was the case or not - and I feel grateful to be part of the team, the lads dug deep and had to work unbelievably hard for every point out there and thankfully manage to finish.
"We had to earn everything we got out there."
Leinster face Gloucester at the RDS on Friday night so it is a fast turnaround for Leo Cullen's side.
"Their backs are unbelievably dangerous, so certainly from that perspective we'll have to be properly on it again," Ringrose, who captained Leinster, told BT Sport.
"They're really organised, system-wise, they have great individuals but work really well (together), they have great cohesion and have torn apart pretty much everyone they've played against once they get go-forward ball off the back of those forwards they have as well.
"So it's a quick turnaround, which is a tough task for us, so dust off the bodies and all the focus will be on them tomorrow."
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