Charlie Ngatai will get his second taste of an interprovincial derby on Friday and hopes he can make as big an impression as he did against Ulster.
The New Zealander made a crucial try-saving tackle in last month's game in Belfast, dislodging the ball from Aaron Sexton’s grasp as he dived over the tryline with 11 minutes remaining.
"The team have told me about the interpro' games," Ngatai told RTÉ Sport. "I got a first-hand [experience] of that against Ulster and now we have Connacht this weekend. It's another test for us to see where we can go."
Ngatai made his second Leinster start in Saturday’s thriller against the Cell C Sharks, playing alongside Johnny Sexton for the first time.
It was Ngatai’s best performance to date since arriving from Lyon during the close season but the 32-year-old admits he is still getting used to his new surroundings.
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"It's still a work in progress," he said. "Like going into any new team, you're still figuring out defensive and attacking systems, the way your team-mates play, different lines. I'm still learning and trying to get a connection with all the other boys.
"That's the first time I've played with Johnny, the first time I’ve played with Robbie [Henshaw] outside me, so we're still working on those connections.
"No doubt we'll still be working on them and hopefully we get to increase our game more or get better each time we do play with each other."
Ngatai spent seven years playing Super Rugby with the Hurricanes and Chiefs and four in France with Lyon, where he won a European Challenge Cup, yet joining Leinster was still something of a culture shock.
"My body is still understanding training at that high intensity and the culture, getting to know a lot of the lads around me and what drives them," he said.
"In terms of training intensity it's a lot faster to what I’m used to."
Leinster will look to extend their 100% start to the BKT United Rugby Championship season when they face Connacht in Galway on Friday, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
Leinster won all four meetings with the Westerners last season, three of which were landslide victories, but Ngatai warned they must tighten up in defence after shipping five tries against the Sharks.
"We knew it's going to be a tough night, the Sharks are a class outfit," he said. "We knew they had good, quick players.
"We leaked a couple of tries in there but we are learning from them. It was a good test for us.
"We're taking the learnings from there, and hopefully addressing those and moving forward and fix all those problems."
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