Luke Fitzgerald believes none of Europe's big guns will want to face Leinster in a Champions Cup quarter-final – home or away.
The Leinster centre's defensive grit in Saturday's 20-20 draw at Wasps won him another man of the match award and may just be enough to edge him into Ireland's 13 shirt for the Six Nations opener in Italy on February 7th.
The 27-year-old is finally fit and firing after battling unrelenting groin trouble in 2014, and believes Leinster are starting to hit their straps too.
Matt O’Connor’s side let a 14-point lead slip in the final quarter to gift Wasps a draw and now must wait until the final two pools are completed on Sunday before knowing if they will have a home draw in the quarter-finals.
“We would have liked to have achieved a home quarter-final, that was the top aim, and we’re a little bit short,” said Fitzgerald.
“So I think we look very strong, I would say a lot of teams would be pretty disappointed in having to play us at home in the quarter-final having done really well in the group.
“I think teams would look at it and say ‘jeez, how have we drawn these guys?’ that’s how I feel about it.
“Maybe I’m overly confident in us, but I think like we’re playing some decent rugby and we’ve got an awful lot left in us, which is a nice place to be considering we’ve qualified.”
The worst-performing pool winner will be forced to travel away in the knockout stages of Europe’s top tier, and Leinster are kicking themselves for not already sewing up a last-eight battle at the Aviva Stadium.
Fitzgerald believes Leinster’s patchy early season form is now a thing of the past, backing head coach O’Connor’s “creative” approach and warning opponents to beware a raft of stars poised to return from injury.
The three-time Heineken Cup winners could have Seán O'Brien, Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Zane Kirchner and Rhys Ruddock back in action by the time that European quarter-final rolls around.
O’Brien and Healy’s ball-carrying exploits would certainly transform Leinster’s ability to create an attacking platform, while Fitzgerald believes McGrath is every bit as talented as his more senior loosehead counterpart Healy.
Healy is primed to overcome long-term hamstring trouble while O’Brien is on the cusp of beating two consecutive shoulder reconstructions.
The British and Irish Lions duo could yet feature in the Irish Wolfhounds’ clash with England Saxons in Cork this Friday night in a bid to prove their Six Nations fitness.
Fitzgerald said: “Cian Healy, Seán O’Brien and Rhys Ruddock they are three massive ball-carriers for this team, they change how things work for us.
“Zane Kirchner’s coming back too, and those two looseheads: they are probably the best in Europe I would say, we’re pretty blessed in that department.
“It’s all there for us, so I think things are looking pretty good.
“In the last couple of weeks we’ve executed the coach’s gameplan an awful lot better. I think he’s a very creative guy and that showed against Wasps in the first-half.
“It’s no surprise to me or anyone who has dealt with the coach that those things are proving difficult to defend.”
