Leinster could not have delivered a more emphatic answer to the disappointment of Bilbao. Seven days on from a 41-19 Champions Cup final defeat to Bordeaux-Begles, the four-time European champions tore the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions apart 59-10 in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final, booking a home semi-final and signalling that the wounds of the previous weekend had only sharpened their focus.
There had been a genuine question over how Leinster would react to losing a fifth final of their recent era. The Kick On Rugby review framed the answer in blunt terms, noting that the people who expected the Champions Cup loss to linger had just been shown exactly what a reaction looks like. Leinster were clinical, smooth and physical, and the margin could have been even greater. There were at least two or three first-half tries spilled through knock-ons and handling errors, which leaves Andy Farrell's side with the unusual luxury of an emphatic win and obvious upside still to come.
The passage that broke the Lions came either side of the interval. Leinster scored in the final five minutes before half-time and again in the opening exchanges after the restart, the so-called championship minutes that so often decide knockout rugby. Once that double blow landed, the contest was effectively over.
James Lowe was at the centre of the celebrations. The wing crossed twice to move his tally to 71, and the broadcast noted that the double carried him past the province's all-time try-scoring record. Joe McCarthy continued a commanding run of form in the second row, carrying with intent and clear physical menace, the kind of ball-carrying that has made him one of the standout forwards of the closing weeks of the season.
Much of the pre-match attention had centred on the fly-half debate, and Sam Prendergast made a powerful case to retain the jersey. He finished with 19 points, including a try, and orchestrated Leinster's attack with the late, flat distribution that has become his signature. The Kick On Rugby analysis was unequivocal that on front-foot ball there is no better playmaker in Ireland, while acknowledging that performing under sustained pressure and on the back foot remains the part of his game still developing at the age of 22.
The reward is another home knockout fixture, this time against the Stormers, who edged past Cardiff 44-21 to set up the trip to Dublin. The South African franchise will travel without the comfort of home advantage they enjoyed for much of the regular season, a consequence of slipping to third on the table after late-season defeats.
For Leinster, the message of the weekend was simple. A bruising European final loss has not derailed their domestic ambitions, and on this evidence they remain the team to beat in the URC. The semi-final will demand a sharper, more economical performance than even this one, but Farrell's men have rediscovered their ruthless streak at exactly the right moment.
