In the blue corner: Rocky Elsom
May 21 2009
Rampaging back-rower Rocky Elsom admits that lifting the 2009 Heineken Cup at Murrayfield would be the perfect end to his debut season at Leinster.
The 26-year-old Australian, who only transferred to the blue province from Sydney last September, is poised to walk out for the highlight of his northern hemisphere career on Saturday.
Thriving in the midst of his playing peak against Harlequins and more recently Munster in the Cup's knockout rounds, Elsom was his usual swashbuckling self in both fixtures as he caused problems for all standing in his path.
But despite the semi-final environment of Croke Park being right up there with the best he's been involved in, the Wallaby flank is expecting this clash to match that in terms of intensity and the raw desperation of both finalists.
"The atmosphere [against Munster] was one of the best I've seen," Elsom admitted, speaking exclusively to Planet Rugby.
"In our two previous meetings this season, we were in touch before they pulled away so it was important for us to try and correct that and it just happened to be on a very big stage.
"But as well as it went, Saturday [against Leicester] will be a different type of game. It's a Heineken Cup Final and you don't need much motivation to get up for that."
Despite seeing Munster claim the Magners League crown from their trophy cabinet over the past fortnight, Leinster's form in European competition has been thriving - October's 41-11 Pool demolition of Wasps is surely proof to that.
And Elsom believes that their Heineken Cup rise since the disappointment of 2007/08 is testament to the mindset and hard work put in by everyone at the Dublin province.
"We definitely want to win things - whether we do or not remains to be seen," he continued.
"The balance isn't quite perfect yet but as a team we fight pretty hard for things, which is probably our greatest quality.
"However, if we don't start with a similar mindset [to the semi-final] then Leicester are going to be hard to contain."
Heineken Cup victory over the Tigers would be a dream finish to any professional player's first campaign in a foreign hemisphere. And it's a prospect that Elsom is understandably desperate to achieve after an enjoyable experience in the Irish capital.
"It's [the move] been a lot better than I expected. Obviously I didn't think that I would hate it here but I didn't expect it to be as much fun as it has been," he explained.
"Of course, the team is doing well so that helps but I've also enjoyed Dublin as well as the Leinster environment."
The big question is, will the HEC Final be his last appearance in the blue shirt?
By Adam Kyriacou