‘We’re ready to go’ – Leinster lock James Ryan using past Champions Cup finals heartache as motivation

Toulouse lie in wait at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today in what is being billed as a final for the ages between the competition’s most successful teams.

Coach Leo Cullen has opted to restore Jason Jenkins and Will Connors to his starting pack, with Hugo Keenan back at full-back and a heavily loaded 6/2 bench that includes co-captain James Ryan who made his return from injury against Ulster last weekend.

Toulouse, meanwhile, have resisted the temptation to start France full-back Thomas Ramos with Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn preferred and Josh Brennan – son of Trevor – included on the bench.

While Leinster have scar tissue from their final losses to Saracens and La Rochelle, they have had the upper hand on Toulouse in their recent meetings.

And Ryan believes the team are ready to channel the hurt of the last couple of seasons into a big performance.

“We love this competition, it’s pretty obvious that Leinster as a club really do,” the second-row said. “We’ve had great success in the Champions Cup historically, this group has had a little bit of success and a lot of heartbreak as well.

“When you lose finals, you come back motivated to go one step further.

“It hurts to lose big games and, so, I’d be lying if I said we don’t use it and it doesn’t come up. At the same time, Toulouse won’t be shy of motivation because we’ve beaten them the last two years in this competition.

“They’ve won five Champions Cups, it’s hugely important for them too, so you’ve two highly motivated teams.

“It’s getting the balance right, it means so much but in the week of a big game, a final, you need to find the sweet spot and you don’t want lads so in their own heads about it and overdoing it.

“You want lads to be able to enjoy a week like this, enjoy the occasion, it’s just getting the balance right.

“I feel like we got it right this week, so we’re ready to go.”

Toulouse coach Ugo Mola believes their own history of losing knockout games against Leinster will count for little in north London.​

“First of all, it’s not a semi-final anymore,” he said. “We’re not playing at their home ground, neutral, that will be a factor to make us feel more optimistic.

“We respect Leinster, they are incredible and have 90pc of the Ireland team. We don’t need to preview them too much, we know them, we do focus only on ourselves and we have developed our approach for the game.”

Last season, Toulouse conceded heavily when down to 14 men due to yellow cards and they have been working with referee Mathieu Raynal to improve their discipline.

“All the team take experience from the last semi-final, but it’s a final this year. A different context and I think the discipline is very important in the final stage,” captain Antoine Dupont said.

“Last year, we weren’t good at that and we need to focus on that. After, we will play with intensity and if we are not disciplined it will be very hard.”