'I love being back' - James Ryan's return perfect tonic for Leinster's dream final against Toulouse

James Ryan is back, and he couldn't have timed his return any better.

The Leinster lock needed to be road-tested before this Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup final against Toulouse and he passed his individual exam with flying colours.

Leo Cullen’s second-string team, however, will have to go back to the drawing board after a mistake-ridden display. More on that later.

Alongside full-back Hugo Keenan, who had a hip injury, Ryan played the full 80 against Ulster after recovering from a bicep injury suffered the week before Ireland’s loss to England in the Six Nations back in March.

The captain didn’t shirk any responsibilities, making 19 tackles and seven runs with ball in hand during the 23-21 defeat.

He appears to have put on a couple of kilos - "a lot of time in the gym," he says.

"It is [good to be back], I missed the lads, and I missed nights like tonight.

"Just being able to play with the lads, it's been a great week and we prepped pretty well."

The 27-year-old suffered the injury, which needed surgery, in an innocuous training ground incident but says he never doubted that he would get back before the end of the season.

"I was always confident it was going well.

"The lads did a great job in terms of the rehab, they probably don't get enough credit for that, the medical staff in Leinster and Ireland. They did a fantastic job.

"It's thanks to the great work from the lads over the last 10 weeks. Einar [Einarsson] out in the [IRFU] HPC, he's been brilliant for me.

"I'm happy to be back fit and it felt like I was pretty robust out there.

"I missed it. You miss it when you're not playing, you just feel outside it when you're injured.

"I just thoroughly enjoyed the week, being back in, we had a great group coming up to Belfast, there