Leinster 42 - 14 Ulster: Leinster’s heroes turn focus on Kiwis

Ireland will head to All Blacks country for Test matches in Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton next month.

They have never beaten New Zealand in 24 previous attempts but Ireland’s dominance of the Heineken Cup this season, providing both finalists and an additional quarter-finalist, should at least see them travel in confident mood.

“Having two provinces in the Heineken Cup final is great,” Ireland captain O’Driscoll said, after he played a key role in Leinster’s 42-14 Twickenham drubbing of Ulster.

“And we have to use that confidence and channel it in the best possible way for the tour down in New Zealand.

“We have one more game to focus on with Leinster, and then we will be in camp and switched on to the job of travelling down there and hopefully getting our first win against New Zealand.”

O’Driscoll, despite undergoing minor knee surgery earlier this month, delivered another inspired performance on the big occasion as Leinster cut loose to win their second European title of coach Joe Schmidt’s reign.

It was a third Heineken triumph for them in four seasons, while their New Zealand lock Brad Thorn became the first player in rugby history to win a World Cup, Heineken Cup and Super Rugby title.

“We are encouraged to play – that is a philosophy of Joe’s,” O’Driscoll added.

“He wants us to go out, express ourselves and play a good brand of running rugby. It has been a good fit since he’s been here. That is the way the lads want to play.”

Asked what drives him on, 33-year-old O’Driscoll said: “Medals and trophies.

“It is about wanting more now. The pleasure of being involved in this group is knowing how hungry they are, and we will go out to defend the title next season as we did this year. The feeling in the dressing room was one of elation, but it was different from the other two cup final wins because it was not so tense in the last 10 minutes.

“Joe did mention how Northampton were in a commanding position against us in last season’s final and we managed to turn them over, and we were adamant that would not happen to us.”

Leinster became the first team since Leicester 10 years ago to successfully defend the Heineken Cup and, if they make it a hat-trick next term, it would equal Toulouse’s record of four European titles, although their successes came between 1996 and 2010.

“When we won the Heineken Cup for the first time we talked about laying down a legacy and doing something for us to be remembered by,” O’Driscoll added.

“We are going some way to doing that and moving in the right direction, but I know this team is hungry for more success.

“It is enjoyable day in day out going into work because you know you are going to be pushed by the guy next to you. We play for each other and that showed out there.

“The energy from all 23 players was phenomenal. There were two try scorers among the guys who came on [as substitutes] and that speaks volumes for where we are at as a squad.”

O’Driscoll missed the tournament’s pool stages while he recovered from shoulder surgery that also ruled him out of the RBS 6 Nations Championship this season, and he paid a glowing tribute to Leinster’s unsung heroes.

“I only came in for the knockout stages,” he said. “But the hard graft was done in the pool stages by people like Eoin O’Malley, who is sitting at home having had a cruciate ligament operation on Friday.

“This medal will be part his and all the other guys who have played this season.”

Leinster captain Leo Cullen has highlighted coach Joe Schmidt’s “relentless pursuit of excellence” as a driving force behind their ascent to the European rugby summit.

The Irish heavyweights now have sights firmly set on a domestic and European double after rewriting the Heineken Cup record book.

Their 42-14 Twickenham trouncing of Ulster was the biggest winning margin in a Heineken final, while Leinster’s five-try haul and points tally also set new figures.

And the achievements did not stop there as they became the first team to land three European titles in four seasons, while only Leicester 10 years ago had previously successfully defended the trophy.

Victory over the Ospreys in next Sunday’s RaboDirect PRO12 final would see Leinster land the first European and domestic double by any team since Wasps in 2004.

And New Zealander Schmidt, who is making a powerful case to be part of the British and Irish Lions coaching team in Australia next year, has now masterminded two successful Heineken Cup campaigns since moving to Dublin in 2010.

“Joe brings a relentless pursuit of excellence,” Cullen said. “He demands high standards, and it is great for the players. All the coaching staff work so hard with this squad. Looking back, we won the Celtic League in its first year (2002), and we thought we would push on from that, but we crashed out of Europe pretty embarrassingly on a few occasions.

“In 2007 I couldn’t really see how the team was going to be successful in the immediate future. It was just a very disjointed period.

“But Michael Cheika then came in as coach and changed the mentality. He brought in some quality players and some good young players came through as well. The team was desperate to be successful.

“It wasn’t pretty when we won the Heineken Cup in 2009, we sort of fell over the line in the final against Leicester at Murrayfield but the belief was there and we knew we had to kick on.

Schmidt deflected praise on to the players, many of whom had already starting talking about next week’s Ospreys challenge before even leaving Twickenham last night.

“The players put a lot of energy into it,” Schmidt said.

“There is a degree of resolve for next week, and when it is coming from the players it makes it easy for me to crack the whip.

“It is an achievement for this group of men. They get on so well together, they are a very tight-knit unit and they are such a coachable group.

“They really want to try to be the best they can be, and they work really hard to do that. The leadership is superb across the board.

“The players bring a resolve and they unite in that. It does make them very tough to break down for opposition teams.

“We have got a bit left on our plate, and we will now focus on the final next Sunday and give that our best shot.

“I would like to think we can select from a full squad. No-one pulled up too badly, and we know that anyone who can beat Munster 45-10 – as the Ospreys did in the semi-finals – have to be a very good side.”

Opening try scorer and man of the match Sean O’Brien added: “We’ve worked hard and this was they day where we had to for go it and thankfully we got the win. It’s a strong squad and we really want to kick on.”