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Rugby

28th Mar 2017

Tadhg Furlong is expecting a long day at the office against formidable Wasps outfit

“Sometimes you are looking into the black hole a bit."

Sean McMahon

The English side are brimming with some serious talent.

Leinster’s Champions Cup quarter-final clash with Wasps at the weekend promises to be an incredible game.

The two sides are at the top of their respective leagues but Leinster just edge the Coventry based outfit when it comes to tries scored in both domestic and European action.

Leinster have scored 79 tries in the PRO 12 as opposed to Wasps’ 73 in the Aviva Premiership.

When it comes to Champions Cup action, Leinster reign supreme again with a total haul of 31 compared to the 28 scored by Dai Young’s side.

Regardless of who has scored more, the two teams are full of attacking prowess so neutrals will be hoping for an entertaining game at the Aviva Stadium.

But it is not just the backlines of the respective sides which are grabbing all the attention, both teams have formidable forward packs at their disposal and Leinster’s Tadhg Furlong expects a tough battle against his pack’s opposite numbers.

Furlong revealed he has spoken to his former teammate, Marty Moore, on a number of occasions and he recalls how Moore believes the English league is very attritional and forward-dominated.

“Talking to Marty a small bit, he says it’s very attritional. You’re tested every week in the Premiership,” Furlong told RTÉ Sport

“They are battle-hardened and we’re going to have to be up to the task.”

Furlong admits that there is an element of the unknown when facing a side from England when you consider you don’t play against them on a regular basis.

“Obviously, we don’t know Wasps especially well, we don’t scrummage against them twice a year like we would in the Pro12.

“Sometimes you are looking into the black hole a bit, not knowing what it’s going to bring.”

For Furlong and his teammates, they can expect that this is likely to be their toughest test of the season.

But with the backing of strong 47,000+ crowd on Saturday, Leinster can be confident that they can progress to the semi-finals.

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