Caelan Doris describes Leinster's Champions Cup semi-final win as an "amazing occasion"
Leinster defeated Northampton 20-17 in Croke Park
CAELAN Doris described Leinster's Croke Park experience as "a level up" as Blues boss Leo Cullen expressed relief that the Blues made the Champions Cup final last night.
Cullen admitted that his side must improve for the decider against Toulouse of Harlequins on May 25 after the record 82,300 crowd watched Northampton Saints almost pull off a famous comeback victory at GAA HQ.
James Lowe scored a hat-trick and Leinster led 20-3 after 42 minutes but two Saints tries reduced the deficit to three points with four minutes remaining.
Read More Leinster cling on to beat Northampton Saints and book their place in Champions Cup final
"It was an amazing occasion," said Cullen after the 20-17 victory. "The lead into this game has been exceptional.
"I think everyone was shocked in the best possible sense when the ticket sales started, it's remarkable really, and we're relieved that we got a win.
"Certainly they got 80 minutes of entertainment - it was probably a little bit too exciting at the end!
"The score goes to 20-3 early in the second half and it's human nature to sit on what you have, the struggle is can you kick on from it.
"But listen, we're delighted, and we give full thanks to everyone who came out to support us. We're relieved to get through, we're delighted to get through and just have to focus on improving our game and getting better for the final.
"The important thing is we got over the line and we managed to do that, thankfully, and hopefully we'll have a good crowd over in the Spurs stadium.
"We need to embrace it for the challenge it is - it's a different arena, a brilliant arena for us to be in and we'll bring the same mentality as we did today."
Skipper Doris and Jack Conan combined to produce a match-winning turnover in the dying moments as the Saints pushed for a winning score.
"In the context of the game, with them knocking on the door, we felt we had to do something. It's instinct, you don't have much time to think about it.
"It was pleasing to do enough in the last few minutes.
Reflecting on the occasion, the Mayo man added: "I think it was a level up, from doing that lap for the warm-up you could feel the energy coming from Hill 16 and it was a step up from the Aviva, it was a great atmosphere,
"We acknowledged there was a bit of a lull and they were having a purple patch, and some of that was down to us but they're at the top of the Premiership for a reason."
Saints captain Courtney Lawes said: "To get back on the horse and go back at them, to be able to do that as a team is great going forward.
"But we didn't really test them the way we wanted to, and you can't win at the highest level if you're doing that kind of stuff."
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