Jamison Gibson-Park says it has come as no surprise to him to see Ross Byrne put his stamp on Leinster's team this season.
The 2022/23 campaign has been a watershed season for Byrne, who has got himself back into Test rugby reckoning and will lead the Leinster attack as they look to lift a URC and Heineken Champions Cup double in the next few weeks.
For much of the 28-year-old's career, there were question marks over whether he would come out from under the shadow of Johnny Sexton, but with the Ireland and Leinster captain ruled out for the rest of the club season due to injury, and set to retire after the World Cup later this year, Byrne has looked comfortable in his place, particularly in the 41-22 Champions Cup semi-final win against Toulouse.
The out-half was earlier named to the URC's Elite XV for the second season in a row, while he's started every game for the province on their run to the Champions Cup final
The outside perception of Byrne has changed markedly in recent months, after he climbed ahead of his brother Harry, Munster's Joey Carbery and Jack Crowley, and Connacht's Jack Carty as the likely successor to Sexton when he retires.
But Gibson-Park says the only thing that's changed this season is that he's now getting the recognition.
"I think it's always been the same for me with Rossy," he told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
Before Gibson-Park became a mainstay of the Ireland squad, the New Zealand native spent several seasons playing week-in and week-out with Leinster in the URC, and regularly alongside Byrne, while Sexton would be seeing his minutes managed.
And he says he's seen his half-back partner grow as a leader in that time, with Sexton's influence rubbing off.
"In the last three or four years he's been a massive leader in the team and he really runs the show week to week in the games he's involved in.
"He's pretty much like Johnny [Sexton], he's near-on another coach with the way he prepares the plays, and connects with the other coaches. That, for me, hasn't changed massively over the last few years with Ross, but he's got more of an opportunity in the bigger games.
"He's pretty incredible, and Harry [Byrne] is much the same. They watch a load of rugby, they know their rugby well and they understand what we're coming up against most of the time. They connect brilliantly with Andrew Goodman, our backs coach, like they did with Felipe [Contepomi] as well.
"He's got a pretty awesome game understanding and a lot of that is down to working with Johnny down the years as well."
While Sexton's time with Leinster on the pitch has come to an end, his influence as team captain is still being felt around the squad.
The 37-year-old is still heavily involved on a day-to-day basis with the group in terms of game preparation and analysis, before taking a step back and handing over the leadership to the rest of the squad as gameday approaches.
And Gibson-Park says it would be special for the squad to be able to finish their season with a couple of trophies to send Sexton, and senior coach Stuart Lancaster out in style.
"It's not something we've touched on massively, but I think that's a little to do with Johnny and the way it finished up with his injury. We're gutted to be missing him, and a few other lads possibly finishing up, Stu [Lancaster] moving on.
"Stu has been here seven years now, so it's coming to an end, but I think those guys like Johnny and Stu deserve to go out on winning terms. It'll be a driving factor for us for sure, but there are a lot of other things you have to get to get the victory."
Leinster will name their squad on Friday for the upcoming BTK United Rugby Championship semi-final with Munster, with Gibson-Park likely to be rested ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup final rematch with La Rochelle on Saturday 20 May at the Aviva Stadium.
And the 31-year-old says the pain of last year's trophy-less season is driving them on this year.
"An old rivalry [v Munster], a game we all look forward to. It's a massive one and one that both teams really get up for, so we're certainly looking forward to that. Then, a newer rivalry in the [Champions Cup] final. La Rochelle have got the better of us the last couple of times, it should be a cracking fixture.
"When it was announced that the final would be in the Aviva, it was a pretty big carrot for us. We went hard at it, and we've done pretty well to get ourselves to this stage now. It's been a number of games now on the bounce at the Aviva, and it's awesome that we have the chance to do that.
"They [La Rochelle] got the better of us pretty well last year in the final. Those moments are tough to forget, the final whistle and the changing room after and the days after it is pretty tough, and ones you look back on and remember them more fondly than the wins. They really stick with you.
"That was a big driver for us, to try and get back there again, and we've done that now, but the final is the biggest one, the hardest one to win. It's going to be a massive couple of weeks, Munster firstly and then into La Rochelle."
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