Leinster assistant coach Robin McBryde is hoping for some home comforts on Friday night after a weekend of "planes, trains and automobiles".
Having overcome severe travel disruption to thump Racing 92 in their Heineken Champions Cup opener and extend their winning streak to 10 matches, Leinster have home advantage in round two as Gloucester visit the RDS.
It is the first meeting between the sides since 2006, when tries from Gordon D'Arcy, Felipe Contepomi, Stephen Keogh and Shane Horgan secured a 37-20 win at Lansdowne Road.
Leinster will have more routine preparations for the visit of the Cherry and Whites compared to the nightmare journey to Le Havre. They were due to arrive in the port city around midday last Friday but their flight was delayed by five hours due to the extreme weather conditions.
When they finally got into the air they ended up being diverted to Paris, where the players were forced to take taxis after their bus didn't turn up.
Leinster assistant coach McBryde provides an injury update on Tadhg Furlong and Johnny Sexton ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup tie against Gloucester
"Planes, trains and automobiles," said McBryde. "We finally got there just before midnight.
"We just got on with it, a bit of mental toughness with regards to not being overly concerned about not going to the ground.
"Leo [Cullen] and myself went to the ground early [on Saturday] just to have a look around and everything was in place. In fairness to the guys, nothing interrupted their mental preparation. Just another day at the office. Everybody accepted it and got on with it.
"I take my hat off to the players. When we got to the stadium we walked the pitch, we stayed pretty tight and discussed what we were going to do in different areas of the field. I can’t speak highly enough of them."
The lack of a captain’s run didn’t faze Leinster as they scored the first of their six tries within three minutes of the kick-off and held a fancied Racing side scoreless until six minutes from the finish.
Later that afternoon, Gloucester produced a stunning second-half comeback to beat Bordeaux-Begles at Kingsholm. Trailing 17-5, they scored three unanswered tries in the final 18 minutes to clinch a bonus-point victory.
Gloucester’s scrum laid the platform for that impressive fightback and McBryde expects them to target the Leinster set-piece on Friday.
"Gloucester play in the Premiership. It’s a different game, there’s a lot of emphasis on the set-piece, the nature of the tournament is different," he said.
"They’re going to be a lot more focused, with a lot more attention to detail in those areas.
"They’re a very good mauling team. They rely on that to earn them territory and kick penalties, as well as the scrum. They’re coming from the background of set-piece domination being first and foremost in their minds."
Leinster will make a late call on Tadhg Furlong and Johnny Sexton ahead of the game but should the latter fail to prove his fitness, McBryde knows they have an able replacement in Ross Byrne, who shone once again in the win over Racing.
"He's very dependable, isn’t he?" said McBryde. "He’s always provided that. Even that Exeter game a couple of seasons ago [in the 2020/21 Champions Cup quarter-finals] and even more recent, that last kick against Australia for Ireland.
"Yeah we’ve got Johnny Sexton here but you’ve got to be able to take your opportunity when it comes along, and Ross has done that in his own way.
"He’s a good voice, he leads well and has provided clarity to those around him. I’m just chuffed for him."
Watch Leinster v Gloucester in the Champions Cup live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Friday from 7.30pm, follow our live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra
