Jack Conan claims that victory over Ulster will make a long Good Friday night against Leicester Tigers easier to handle.
Conan and his Blues boss Leo Cullen believe that seeing off Ulster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday was the perfect dress rehearsal for what is coming from the Tigers at the same venue after a fast six-day turnaround.
In brutal conditions, Leinster had to ditch their attractive approach. They took an alternative route to victory, the power game they have honed this season bringing them home.
READ MORE: Leinster 30-15 Ulster: The Blues book quarter-final spot with battling victory
Tries from Ryan Baird, Andrew Porter and Jamison Gibson-Park were enough for the province to progress on a rainy evening.
"Yeah, it just shows that we can win playing different styles of rugby," said Conan.
"It wasn't the day for the standard Leinster attacking brand of rugby, we had to keep it a bit tighter and we showed the strength of our scrum and maul at times.
"We were a little bit disappointed we left a little bit out there at times, especially early on on the try-line - myself included - so there's things to improve on.
"It was a good challenge with Ulster, who have one of the best mauls around. It was disappointing to concede one against them, but for the most part the lads in the tight five did well in those conditions.
"It's good going forward for next week. It's a good way to win a match, playing pressure rugby like that - it will be similar again with the style Leicester play."
The Tigers won the Premiership for the 11th time last season but haven't been the same since Steve Borthwick left for the England hot-seat in December.
Like Leinster, they had to battle to a last 16 victory in bad conditions - they prevailed against Edinburgh last Friday night.
Cullen spent two years with the Tigers before coming home to impart the knowledge gained at Welford Road to Leinster and that was an important element of the Blues' rise to European champions for the first time in 2008.
The sides met at Welford Road at the same stage last year, with Leinster prevailing.
Nevertheless Cullen is wary of what Leicester will bring this week.
"They're a club based on sound fundamentals," he said. "They go about things a certain way, they respect the competitions that they're in.
"They'll come here and with that strong tradition and they'll fancy their chances. They won't be intimidated.
"They'll have strong attention to detail around the fundamentals of the game. It will be similar to what we faced against Ulster - strong set piece, good kicking game, aerial threat, aggressive around the ruck, strong carries, strong contacts.
"We need to make sure we prepare well for that. It's a big week again, we'll see where we stand at the end of it."
As things stand the Aviva Stadium will only be half full for Friday's clash. Due to the quick turnaround, Leinster's provisional plan is to sell 27,000 tickets and to keep the upper tiers closed.
That may change depending on the demand for tickets. "If we get anywhere close to Saturday it will be amazing, but it will be a big ask," admitted Cullen, who joked that Johnny Sexton was already out selling tickets.
On the flip side, Caelan Doris and Garry Ringrose will be available after missing the Ulster game. However, world player of the year Josh van der Flier may be a doubt after twisting his ankle on Saturday.
Ryan Baird produced another big display at no 6 and Conan was named man of the match - so if van der Flier and Doris make it, Cullen has a call to make in the back row.
"I was happy enough with my performance," said Conan. "I don't know who was picking man of the match but it was good to get it - my mother must be ringing him!
"It's good to be back with the lads, to win with that style of rugby today. The back-row was good, Ryan was fantastic with his try and the turnover as well.
"We're happy with where we are, but we need to get better again. Hopefully Caelan will come back in - there's good depth there.
"It was exciting to come back after making history with Ireland. Considering how special it was with Ireland the last few weeks, to have the game here I know means a lot to the lads and definitely it's that extra motivating factor, playing at home.
"We came back in for two days last week and it was good to flick the switch, get back into Leinster mode and refresh ourselves with the calls and the style of play.
"It was a great few weeks with Ireland - but we have an opportunity to win something really special in a couple of weeks time."
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