There is no "magic pill" for Leinster to get over the line today but Jacques Nienaber has added significantly to their armoury for the latest shot at Champions Cup success, according to James Ryan.
The former Springboks coach joined the back-to-back beaten finalists last December with the brief of building a case for the defence.
He gave himself 14 weeks to get the new system in place and that timeline brought him up to the quarter-final of the competition where they let back-to-back winners La Rochelle have both barrells in a 40-13 win.
There was more evidence that the team had fully bought into the plan when they held out Northampton Saints until the 58th minute of their 20-17 semi-final win, in which, admittedly, they allowed the visitors back into the game with two late tries.
But Nienaber's plan doesn't include not letting in any tries, it's inflicting as much damage as possible through beligerance and agressive linespeed so that the attack can put enough points on the board to make opposition scores mere consolations.
It happened against the Saints, while Sale and Tigers both scored three tries in their losses to Leinster.
Toulouse are the tournament's top scorers with 46 tries (Leinster have 30), scoring 6.6 per game on average. There's no Leinster game plan that involves a shut-out today.
But defence as a form of attack is key.
Club co-captain Ryan starts on the bench for the 2.45pm kick-off, ready to replace Jason Jenkins or Joe McCarthy after returning from an injury lay-off in last weekend's URC loss to Ulster.
Nienaber's 2023 World Cup team won each of their knock-out games, against France, England and New Zealand, by a single point and Ryan was asked what the 51-year-old coach has brought to the party.
"He's had a huge impact defensively but [also] in a lot of [other] areas," said the 27-year-old Ireland lock.
"With South Africa and in terms of the World Cup, you saw how close the games were in the quarter-final and semi-final, one-point games and they were coming out on the right side.
"We've come off on the wrong side of a lot of games like that at Leinster so being able to pick his brains on a week like this [is great].
"Unfortunately, there is no magic pill but it's about staying in the fight for the full 80, making everything a contest, whether it's a ruck or a tackle or whatever it is. That's the way he looks at it.
"He's been brilliant. Hopefully we can go one step further."
On getting accustomed to the new blitz defence, Ryan (above) added: "It hasn't been tricky, it's very simple in terms of the system, it's more about committing to it. For the first while there was a little bit of teething, everyone getting used to how we are defending.
"As a coach he gives good clarity so it's very easy to get behind. We've loved it and he's a bit of a character as well, he has a good way of delivering messages and he has funny anecdotes. It's enjoyable as a player to work with him.
"There are [stories] I can't share today but that's his way of coaching, he's good with stories and the language he uses is really good."
Ross Molony, regarded as the best lineout caller in the squad, is the one to miss out today but Ryan said he was confident that flanker Ryan Baird (below), Leinster's only ever present in the competition this season, can fill his boots running the set-piece.
Toulouse boast a 91.4% success rate at the lineout, with Leinster's return coming in at 85.7%.
"We're in a good spot, a lot of the French teams pose different challenges in the lineout," said Ryan, who added that his failure to make the starting XV wasn't a "huge surprise".
"Typically, they mightn't be as aggressive in the air but they can be very destructive on the ground in terms of the maul D strategies they use.
"That's part of being a lineout caller, having an understanding of the opposition and how they are going to defend in the air and in the ground.
"Bairdo did a great job against La Rochelle. I think they'll do a great job [today]. For us, we push the quality of drill and hopefully we can put it together."
Meanwhile, there is an Irish flavour to the French bench with Joshua Brennan, son of former Ireland, Leinster and Toulouse forward Trevor named by Ugo Mola yesterday.
The 22-year-old (above) has played 56 minutes across four replacement appearances in the competition this season and his performances in last weekend's Top14 win over Montpellier was enough to put him in the frame to emulate his father's achievement of Heineken Cup success, 2003 and 2005.
"Aw man, Joshua is not far from 'Jacques' [Jack Willis, Toulouse's English back row], they are cut from the same cloth," Toulouse's Australia-born lock Emmanuel Meafou said earlier in the week.
"They are from different countries but they act the same, they are relentless, they are workaholics, they just don't stop.
"Josh, he is a funny guy. He is a young guy but you can already sense the leadership qualities in his game, in his whole aura around the team.
"But, yeh, Josh is awesome and he is awesome around the team.
"He has only just started and he has already got so many games under his belt and I feel like he is only going to get better with more game time.
"He is an awesome kid and the boys love him around and like I said, he played with the France U20s and captained then for a bit so he has already got those leadership qualities.
"He is a funny kid and an awesome kid and the longer he stays with us the longer he will build his game and I think he will be a quality player."
Trevor (above) himself is a legendary figure in the club. Unwanted at Leinster, then-Toulouse coach Guy Noves saw the abrasive and versatile forward as missing piece of the jigsaw.
"We have a good relationship with him," said the France international.
"His restaurant, his bar, is not far from us so any chance we get we are down at his bar and having a nice little feed over there.
"Trevor is a good man, the whole family is a good family and like I said he has looked after us a good number of times, on multiple occasions.
"He has a great relationship with the club and Trevor is awesome in that respect, and that whole family too, they really get around the club and the boys."
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