Johnny Wattersonhears from several of the Irish involved in Sunday's European Cup showdown
When Leicester defeated Gloucester last weekend in the English Premier League final, the collective understanding among the victors was their season was still a work in progress. With the Heineken European Cup final looming, the mood was measured: let's just take this trophy and go home.
The mindset at Welford Road has never been other than everyone being "on message".
"It was very quiet, a funny sort of scene on the bus," says Leo Cullen. "Not a beer in sight. I think people were just pretty determined to finish off the season."
Shane Jennings, one of Leicester's outstanding players of the campaign, and like Cullen on his way back to Leinster for next season, should arrive home with an attitude as well as a more honed game. In the running for player of the season, the flanker has been central to the club's success so far this season - as have, in various measure, Cullen, Geordan Murphy, Ian Humphreys and more recently Frank Murphy.
"There was very little celebration after Twickenham," says Jennings. "If we believed in all the hype we'd fall short. We don't want to feel special and everyone knows it.
"If we weren't in a European final maybe there would have been a lot more emotion after the game last week; maybe we'd have blown the doors open the last few nights. I suppose the lads are like that. They set their sights on Europe and want to give it their full respect. In the club there are big players, big names, not big-timers."
For Frank Murphy, elevation has been swift. Formerly in the shadow of the now injured Harry Ellis, Murphy has suddenly become star rather than understudy. But he is not unfamiliar with the role. The widespread assumption that Murphy is the rookie taking a step up at the 11th hour is in fact far from the mark.
"I've played a lot of games this season," he says. "This would be my 23rd this year. I wasn't nervous last week. I knew it was a big game and I just slotted in."
That his relative lack of experience on the big Twickenham stage will be targeted by Wasps is something that has crossed Murphy's mind, though it has not kept him awake at nights. He is also aware that fixating on an opposing scrumhalf has its dangers and can be counterproductive.
"It's crossed my mind," he says of the possibility of finding himself in the crosshairs. "But we've a lot of target runners, big guys running at them. Playing against Gloucester last week was okay, so it really doesn't faze me if they do (target me).
"It's a risky business doing that. You come close to infringing and give away penalties because you are playing on the edge. So if they do that I think it could work for us."
Leicester are seeking to match the European Cup record of Toulouse, who won the trophy three times, in 1996, 2003 and 2005. A win on Sunday would add to Leicester's victories in 2001 and 2002 and set them alongside the French club as the most successful side in the competition, which began in 1995.
While Wasps, who won in 2004, are chasing their second title, Leicester go into the match as firm favourites and with thoughts not only of a treble of European Cup wins but also of a seasonal treble - they have already won the Premiership and the EDF Energy Cup.
"Personally, I'd prefer the Heineken Cup to anything else," says Cullen. "As Irish players we are brought up with that. The EDF is quite lucrative here financially and the Premiership is bread and butter. Without doubt Europe is the biggest."
The biggest is also the most difficult and the match against Wasps will represent the last of a string of big games for Leicester. If there is one issue that may trouble them, it is that they have been asked to go back and draw from the same well on successive weeks since the semi-finals of the European Cup.
"It doesn't take a fool to look at who we are playing," says Jennings. "Everyone knows how dangerous Wasps are and we have no right to win every game we go into. Just because we won last week doesn't mean that we will do it again. We've got to look after our own shop and if I was in Wasps I'd be loving it, loving that chance to blow out the other team's candle."
For Jennings and Cullen it is their last match for the club, and Leinster will be hoping the two bring something of Welford Road to Donnybrook after their few years away.
"I don't know if I came here with anything and I don't know if I'm coming back with anything," adds Jennings. "I came here and nobody knew who I was and nobody cared. I think that will stand me in good stead."
