Vesty expects Saints to come out swinging at Aviva Stadium

The black, green and gold return to Dublin to face a Leinster team who beat them in the Investec Champions Cup semi-final at Croke Park last season.

Saints were made to pay for a slow start in that match, going 20-3 down before roaring back and eventually losing 20-17.

And head coach Vesty is hoping the experience they gained last May can stand Saints in good stead this weekend.

"We were a little bit nervous to start with, we played the occasion a little bit, we've talked about that," Vesty said.

"It was also the first time for a lot of our players in those big games - not all of them - and it's a really big, massive occasion.

"We will learn a lot from the experience of last year, and those players have also gone on and played in really big games internationally as well.

"I don't think we'll suffer playing the occasion in the first 20 minutes this time.

"So we're looking forward to going out there from second one and swinging and firing shots as often as we can."

Leinster have cruised through the Champions Cup knockout stages so far, beating Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors, scoring 114 points while not conceding a single one.

Vesty said: "They're a really good team and if you let them do what they want to do, they're going to be a very good team, and they're going to score a lot of points, and it's going to be very difficult for you to score points.

"The key to it is firing shots and putting them under pressure right from the go.

"You want to test yourselves in the biggest games. Champions Cup semi-finals are where you want to be.

"We've earned the right to get there and played really well to get there.

"It's another opportunity to go to Dublin to test ourselves against probably the best team in Europe at the moment, and they have been for a good while."

Saints are big underdogs this weekend against a Leinster side fancied to go all the way in the season's competition.

But Vesty said: "It's a good place to play rugby from, an easy place to play rugby from.

"Everyone's expectation is on Leinster so that is definitely an element of it psychologically.

"But ultimately, that has nothing to do with the game, and what we need to concentrate on is the bits that are going to apply pressure to them, allow us to score points, stop them scoring points and then that expectation and pressure pays in the end.

"The focus is actually very much on us and doing our bits right."