Leo Cullen praised his side's ruthless streak, as they demolished Harlequins to reach the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.
The Premiership side barely laid a glove on the four-time champions, who scored 10 tries in a dominant 62-0 win, moving within three games of a fifth title.
Cullen’s returning Ireland internationals showed no sign of a post Six Nations hangover, with Josh van der Flier the pick of the bunch, while Sam Prendergast ran an efficient backline well as they eased into a 19-0 lead by half time.
While the game ended as a contest with half an hour to play, the province’s attacking game really clicked in the opening 50 minutes, with Prendergast, Joe McCarthy, Jamie Osborne, Van der Flier and Garry Ringrose all scoring tries.
"There was lots of good stuff out there to run up a score like that," the Leinster head coach told RTÉ Sport.
"We're pleased, the most important thing is to get into the next round, we're into the quarter-finals which I believe is on Friday, so it's a short turnaround. You just need to move your mind quite quickly onwards.
"Coming off the Six Nations, a lot of players have had the chance to freshen up with a bit of time off, and with some decent training this week everyone's come back together again.
"There's a good buzz in the group, a genuine excitement and desire to want to play in the team. The majority of guys have come through the academy system. It means a huge amount to them to play for Leinster in these big games."
Leo Cullen says Leinster will "turn the page quite quickly" to Friday's clash with Glasgow or Leicester after hammering Harlequins 62-0 at Croke Park.#ChampionsCup #Leinster pic.twitter.com/N6SLJpdKsU
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 5, 2025
Leinster will find out their opponents later this evening, with the winners of Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers set to visit the Aviva next Friday.
And Cullen is hopeful his side can stay sharp over the coming days, after a hungry performance against the Premiership side.
"We're into a quarter-final now. It's making sure we don't get too carried away with ourselves, we have to try keep moving forward in a positive way, keep working hard and in the short-term the team need to recover well. Hopefully we'll have a big performance again.
"There was some really pleasing bits of play. We had to weather a bit of a storm at the start. Quins did come quick out of the blocks and we were a little bit inaccurate in those first 10 minutes.
"We scored the try and then went the other end and scored again, and that's the sucker punch you really want to give teams, particularly when you're playing at home.
"Lots of really positive groundwork in terms of strong carries, making good decisions on the ball, and then as we build the lead there's a lot more space in the second half.
"You could see all the bench guys who were mad keen to come on and make an impact in a positive way. It was a good 80-minute performance from us and that's pleasing. That's what we'll need moving into the next round," he added.
