Bok Dillyn Leyds looks ahead to Champions Cup Grand Final

Springbok Dillyn Leyds is not underestimating Leinster ahead of La Rochelle's Heineken Champions Cup final this weekend.

The ten-time Springbok is set to run on for the defending champions when they face Leinster at in Dublin this weekend. The Irish giants will have a point to prove after fielding a contentious XV against Munster in their URC semifinal, only to get knocked out of the competition which they'd dominated from day one.

But no matter who runs out at the Aviva Stadium for Leinster on Saturday, Leyds is under no illusion as to the threat they pose¦

"Like any team when you get beaten at home, especially in a knockout game, you take a bit of a hit," the winger told RTE.

"You want to come back firing shots early. You want to show maybe it was just a tough day as a team. We had similar situations this season in the Top 14 where we lost at home and the week leading up to the next game is all about training a bit of pride.

"They are a bunch of quality international players who know how to react after a loss like that. I don't think that with the final in a couple of days, they will be focusing too much on what happened but how they can fix and react to this final."

Leyds, along with fellow Springbok Raymond Rhule, was a member of the matchday squad that defeated Leinster 24-21 in the Grand Final 12 months ago in Marseille.

"Once I managed to get my hands on the ball quite early and get a good number of touches it gave me a bit of confidence to do that throughout the match," recollected the former Stormers player, who was named Man of the Match that afternoon.

"It was a good day for me but I also think it was a good day for the team. Hopefully, from this weekend the same thing can happen, as a collective take the initiative and play a bit more rugby even though it is a final.

"We don't want to go into our shells. We want to play the way we have been playing throughout the season."