However, Baird is only expected to be out of contention for a few weeks and Lowe will be further assessed by the province’s medical staff in the coming days.

O’Brien is hopeful both players could still feature in their last-four European bout with Toulouse at the Aviva Stadium on April 29 and while there was no update on van der Flier in a press release issued by Leinster at lunchtime on Monday, he believes the Wicklow man could also be back in the frame for selection.

“Josh is just rehabbing away with his ankle and I think he will be okay too when it comes down to it. He’s progressing well. Josh is one of these lads who is meticulous with his rehab and the way that he looks after himself, so he is in a pretty good and positive place,” O’Brien remarked on Monday.

Having recorded a convincing 40-17 win over the Top 14 outfit at the same stage of last season’s Champions Cup, Leinster will enter their upcoming duel with Toulouse as firm favourites to book a spot in a top-tier European decider for the seventh time in their history.

Yet whereas Toulouse squeezed past Munster in a dramatic penalty shootout at the Aviva to progress into the penultimate phase in 2021/22, the French side had 34 points to spare (54-20) at home to the Sharks in their last-eight meeting last weekend. Despite the margin that separated the two teams a little under 12 months ago, O’Brien feels the manner of Toulouse’s victory over the South Africans will keep the Leinster players on their toes.

“I think they will have seen and looked at that game and know what’s coming. That little bit of fear is always something that keeps you driven. You’re like ‘well, now we’re into the big boy stuff’. We’ve enough experience in the room to know what is coming and how to deal with it. How to prepare for it. We won’t be taking our eye off the ball, for sure.”

After finishing out his professional playing career with London Irish last summer, O’Brien subsequently signed up to a Leinster coaching ticket that already featured his former team-mates Leo Cullen and Andrew Goodman. While the 11 years he spent as a senior squad member at the eastern province gave him an appreciation of what goes on behind the scenes, there is one aspect of a coach’s life that has proven to be an eye-opener for the Carlow native.

“The only thing that has probably surprised me is the amount of hours that the coaches put into it. It’s probably something as a player I knew of, that there was obviously a lot of effort being put in, but when you’re actually in every morning when they are and see what time they leave at.

“How much time goes into preparing the team, to be the best they can be on the weekend. It’s a phenomenal effort, it really is. It’s their life. That’s probably the thing I didn’t expect to see as much,” O’Brien added.