Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said that he never felt comfortable despite his side's stunning first-half performance in their 23-14 Heineken Champions Cup win over Leicester at Welford Park.
Tries before the interval from Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw gave Leinster what ultimately was an unassailable 20-0 half-time lead - the first time in three years Leicester had been kept scoreless by the time the interval arrived – and Cullen said he was proud of how his troops soaked up and dealt with the intense second-half pressure.
"Really good intent I think in the first half in attack and defence. I thought we put the Tigers under a fair bit of pressure when they had the ball," Cullen, whose side now meet Toulouse in the semi-final, told RTÉ Sport.
"They had some chances in our 22. James Ryan came up with a big lineout steal at one point. Obviously Leicester were in our 22 a few times but I think it was just the way we executed when we got into their end. [That] was pleasing.
"Obviously, they turned down a couple of kicks at goal and went to the corner so we managed to hold them out on a few of those occasions, which was pleasing.
"The second half they threw the kitchen sink at us. Got us at the start, a couple of penalties around set-pieces, they eventually get in at the corner [a try scored by Chris Ashton].
"We made hard work of some of our exits so we put pressure on ourselves, which was probably the opposite of what was going on in the first half.
"Credit to Leicester, they put us under a huge amount of pressure and we didn’t get that much territory really. We were camped in our end of the field for most of the second half.
"Obviously we do get out and get a good charge down and some good pressure, and we have that scrum and get the penalty [kicked by Ross Byrne] off the back of that and keep our noses in front. It went to 23-7 at that point.
"It didn’t feel comfortable really in the second half from our point of view, but we’re delighted to get a win."
Cullen said it was great to have such a lively atmosphere back for a quarter-final clash with their previous two – the 2020 loss to Saracens and 2021 win over Exeter – being played in front of an empty house due to Covid-19 restrictions.
"An amazing crowd there today for both teams, both sets of supporters," said the man who captained Leicester 15 times as a player.
"Two clubs that are very close to my heart. I had a couple of great years here, and it was just great to see the players, both sets of players, the response they get from the crowd.
"It's special and it obviously makes this tournament incredibly special. The thing that we missed most over the last couple of seasons - knock-out stages of Europe and no crowds.
"To have a big play-off game like that there today and see how much it means to both sets of players but also the support base as well. Hopefully we’ll have a bigger crowd back in the Aviva in blue next week."
A home semi-final with holders Toulouse awaits next weekend, and although Cullen only caught the first portion of their dramatic win over Munster on Saturday, he doesn’t need any further evidence on how good the French side are.
"I only saw the very start of it, the first 20 minutes," he said. "Toulouse look incredibly dangerous, they put a lot of width on the ball, a lot of speed.
"They have two of the best players in the world at the minute in [Antoine] Dupont and Romain [Ntamack] but a big powerful pack as well that gets them on the foot front.
"They’re a very, very dangerous team and obviously I’ve huge amount of respect for what Ugo Mola and his team of coaches have done there.
"It’s an unbelievable challenge for our guys but that’s what you want at this stage of the tournament. A huge week ahead."
