ROBBIE HENSHAW has stressed that the Leinster squad are keen to move on from last month’s Champions Cup final defeat to Toulouse.

An ever-present throughout the pool stages of the competition as well as the earlier knockout rounds, Henshaw also played every minute of their extra-time loss to the Top 14 outfit in north London on May 25.

He had been hoping to add to the Champions Cup crown he secured back in 2018 but the Westmeath native ultimately suffered a fourth European showpiece loss in the Leinster colours — and the third in as many seasons.

Instead of making a swift return to action against his former side Connacht at the RDS last Friday, Henshaw was part of a group that did an extensive review of their 31-22 defeat.

This helped to put him and the rest of his idle colleagues in the right frame of mind heading into the URC knockouts.

He said: “I think everyone is keen to just push on and move on from what happened in London.

“I think we did a great review as a small group on the Friday of the Connacht game. We had some good learnings from that but I think we’ve all moved on now and we’ve all parked it.

“It’s always tough looking back. There were definitely a lot of opportunities that we missed, particularly in that first half when we were on their line a few times.

“We had good entries into their 22 and didn’t convert. Big chances there that we left and that probably came back to bite us in the end.”

INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Of course, Leinster still have a shot at silverware in the shape of the URC trophy and this Saturday sees them taking on Ulster in their quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium.

However, their provincial rivals will be seeking a third win against Leinster this season — following home and away wins during the league part of the competition.

Both games were ones which Leinster will feel got away, with the combined points difference just three between the two teams.

Henshaw was playing when Leo Cullen’s men lost out to the northern province on New Year’s Day at the RDS but Ulster have since undergone significant change.

Less than two months on from that victory, Dan McFarland stepped down as head coach with Richie Murphy taking the hotseat following the conclusion of Ireland’s Under-20 Six Nations campaign.

This was initially as an interim appointment before eventually taking over on a permanent basis from the English man.

Having worked with Murphy during his time as skills and kicking coach in the Ireland senior set-up, Henshaw is expecting Ulster to be a tough proposition.

The Blues ace added: “He’s a good coach and you can see his work is paying off there. They’re getting better and better under him

“I think he knows a lot about how we play as well. He has coached us for a number of years in the Irish set-up, so he’ll have good intel on us coming into this week.

“We’ll need to be ready to go against him and I think he’ll have a few trick plays up his sleeve as well. I think they will be a challenge for us this week in the Aviva.

“We’ll be keen to go out strong and play our best rugby against them, because they have had two wins against us this season.”