Leinster’s Joey Carbery has revealed he shared a joke with his "idol" Dan Carter about a possible clash in the final of the Champions Cup during a chance meeting earlier in the season.
The sides remain on course for a place in the final following weekend victories, with home-country games against the Scarlets and Munster to follow in the last four.
Carbery told RTÉ Sport: "He was an idol to a lot of kids growing up because of how good he was and he is still a great player to this day. He played incredibly at the weekend.
"I met him back in November. He was pretty cool to meet, it was like meeting your hero really.
"We were joking back in November that we’d see each other next in the final of the Champions Cup. That would be pretty cool. We just have to take each week as it comes now. It’d be pretty cool."
Leinster dethroned Saracens at the weekend but the Scarlets will pose another formidable test in the semi-finals.
The 22-year-old said: "To be the best you have to beat the best because they are always going to be competing with you. To draw Saracens and beat them in a quarter-final gives us great confidence.
"We knew how tough it was going to be. A lot of the players would have played against us in Twickenham a few weeks ago. There were a few grey patches where they were coming at us.
"Last season losing semi-finals to Clermont and Scarlets was pretty disappointing. I think that has made everyone a bit more ambitious and driven this year.
"We are in a good place at the moment. We will keep taking it week by week and hope things fall for us."
While Carbery has to be content with a sometimes limited role and not in his preferred number 10 position, he admits that at the age of just 22, things are progressing well and he is taking a lot from the tutelage of Johnny Sexton and Rob Kearney.
With a Grand Slam under his belt and crunch end of season games ahead, it is not a bad time for the Auckland-born player.
"It’s going pretty well at the moment," he says, with a smile..
"I pinch myself every day. It’s everything I wanted to be. I just have to keep improving.
"I’m trying to take every day as it comes and try to learn from Johnny. Hopefully, me being behind him will push him to be a better player by competing with him.
"I’ve been getting a good bit of game-time at 15 but my preferred position is 10. I’m just happy to be playing. "
Joey Carbery was speaking at the You’ve Got This campaign by Avonmore Protein Milk which highlights the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice top athletes make to reach their goal
