Bullish Collins feels Ospreys can stun Leinster in first Grand Final

For the first time, Celtic rugby's league competition will be decided by a one-game showdown as the Ospreys face last season's European champions Leinster in Dublin. And former New Zealand cap Collins believes the Ospreys are ready for their final push.

"All the minutes I've played this season, all the hard work and effort, you would trade them all in for this last 80 minutes," he said. "You would rather be still training, still working and be involved in this game than to have finished two weeks ago. We are still in the chase to win it. We've put ourselves in a position where we are 80 minutes away from winning silverware. This being the first time there has been a Magners League final, there is a chance to make a little bit of history for the Ospreys."

Leinster though, are unbeaten at the RDS in league action since September 2008, with their solitary defeat this season being a 12-9 Heineken reversal to London Irish. Collins said: "It's probably one of the toughest places in European rugby to go and play. Leinster were European champions last year, semi-finalists this year and they finished first in the regular Magners League season, so their quality is clear.

"Most people would consider us underdogs going into this, but that won't be on our mind. It is a final, and in these games it's all about what happens on the day – what you have achieved historically counts for nothing. Finals never tend to be the best of games, but you have got to give it everything, try to play your best game and hopefully it's better than your opposition's game." Leinster will be without skipper Leo Cullen, who has undergone shoulder surgery, while flanker Sean O'Brien is also injured, and the Irish side's head coach Michael Cheika expects an intense encounter in his last game before he heads off to French club Stade Francais next term.

"The message is loud and clear that this game is about winning the final," he said. "I wouldn't want it to be any other way. It's not about me or any of the individual players, it's about the club and making the club better. It has always been about that. We will have plenty of time to say goodbye afterwards – this is about winning the game. The Ospreys are the most dangerous team in the competition. You have just got to look at the speed they've got with guys of the calibre of (Tommy) Bowe and (Shane) Williams out wide.

"I really think that they will target us in the tight-five, and I think that our tight-five are very well focused on what will be the biggest battle for us of the season. It's all or nothing."

Leinster: R Kearney; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, INacewa; J Sexton, E Reddan; S Wright, J Fogarty, CJ van der Linde, N Hines, M O'Kelly, K McLaughlin, S Jennings (c), J Heaslip. Replacements: R Strauss, C Healy/M Ross, T Hogan, S Keogh, P O'Donohoe, F McFadden, G Dempsey.

Ospreys: L Byrne; T Bowe, A Bishop, J Hook, S Williams; D Biggar, M Phillips; P James, H Bennett, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, J Thomas, J Collins, M Holah, R Jones (c). Replacements: E Shervington, R Bevington, I Gough, F Tiatia, J Nutbrown, G Owen, N Walker.