Yet as comfortable as their recent success at the expense of Andy Friend’s men appears on paper, Leinster’s senior head coach feels it is important to view it from a wider context. There was less than three minutes gone in the contest when Connacht lost Tom Daly to a red card and there were also some notable absentees from their starting line-up.

“The red card is a pretty important factor and everyone keeps talking about us going there and doing this, but they’re a completely different team looking at how they played against Treviso. Obviously Bundee Aki is likely to come back in so I think it will be a different team that we’ll face for a whole variety of reasons on Friday night,” Lancaster explained.

“It’s the first time Connacht have been to this part of the knockout stages in Europe so it’s a huge occasion for the club and the people. I know we beat them at the RDS [last December] but I don’t think anyone who played in that thought it was an easy game at all. You can multiply that by 10 in a Champions Cup play-off in Galway.”

Having been completely rested for last Saturday’s impressive 34-19 triumph over arch-rivals Munster, it is anticipated Jonathan Sexton will make his first Leinster appearance since January 22 on Friday. While it was a big decision to leave out the 36-year-old out-half, Lancaster believes his understudy Ross Byrne once again proved his worth on the Blues’ latest visit to Thomond Park.

“He [Sexton] is desperate to get up to speed so he can lead from the front because he’s the captain of the team. Naturally Johnny wants to play every game, but also I think there’s a general understanding both from him and us that that is not going to be the case all the time. We’re very lucky that Ross is so good.

“I thought he was outstanding at the weekend, one of his best games this season. He was a big reason why we got the win. They work really well together. Harry [Byrne] is obviously on his way back now and he’s had a bit of a frustrating season, but he is there and Ciarán Frawley as well. We’ve got good options there for sure.”

Although Ronan Kelleher (shoulder), Andrew Porter (ankle), and Jordan Larmour (hip) haven’t been completely ruled out of Friday’s trip to the west, the game may come too soon in their respective journeys back to full fitness. It is possible they could see action in the second leg at the Aviva, but there is no return date pencilled in as of yet for their fellow Irish international James Ryan.

The second row has been sidelined since being withdrawn with a concussion in the opening minutes of Ireland’s Six Nations Championship success against England at Twickenham Stadium on March 12. Given Ryan has suffered a number of head injuries in the recent past, Lancaster acknowledged it is important for Leinster to continue to take a cautious approach with the towering lock.

“He’s training. He’s not doing contact, so we’re just making sure that we look after him. There’s a fair amount of science and people he can speak to. We’ve got a good plan for him to make sure he comes back, and comes back confident and ready. We want to make sure we do right by him so we’re not going to rush it,” Lancaster added.

“He is fit and well enough to pass and run around with a rugby ball, but we don’t want to expose him to contact or games yet as he returns.”