'They are desperate, so are we' - Leinster primed to go strong against Ulster

It may be full focus on Ulster for the Leinster camp this week but that's not to say that Leo Cullen’s side won’t be able to use the Belfast battle as a Toulouse template.

The Top14 leaders await the Irish province in the Investec Champions Cup final in London in two weeks’ time.

After sending a second-string outfit to South Africa, in which Leinster suffered two defeats, Cullen selected 12 of the starters from their quarter-final win over Northampton, ran in nine tries in a 61-14 BKT URC demolition of Ospreys on Saturday.

The head coach kept his promise to play frontliners in the race for top seeding in the league; they are currently in second, one point behind Glasgow with two rounds remaining.

There are also positive soundings about the possible involvement of James Ryan and Hugo Keenan, who have been sidelined with arm and hip injuries, respectively.

And assistant coach Andrew Goodman (below) suggested that the derby provides a perfect opportunity to test their plan of attack.

"You can’t give [Toulouse] unstructured ball, so you have to be smart with the way you control the ball, the way you kick and obviously discipline," he told RTÉ Sport.

"Because every time they get a chance to play off unstructured, they are a dangerous team. We’ve obviously got a big focus on a tough game against Ulster up in Ravenhill.

"Interpro games, there are a lot of similarities in how we play them and how we are going to build for the week after.

"We are going to have to take that opportunity for unstructured attack away from them as best we can."

Ulster, who confirmed Richie Murphy as the new permanent head coach yesterday, have won their last three URC games and sit in sixth. They come into the fixture having beaten Leinster in the RDS back in