Leinster the benchmark for Connacht, says Pat Lam

If Connacht are to complete their dream season and raise the Guinness Pro12 trophy on Saturday, head coach Pat Lam believes they will have to negotiate the toughest challenge possible in final rivals Leinster.

The final at Murrayfield pits the league’s top-two finishers in an all-Irish decider on Scottish soil with first-place Leinster’s team full of internationals showing their calibre by outclassing Ulster at the RDS in last Friday’s semi-final.

Not that Connacht have had it easy, their runner-up finish, secured with a last-round home win over Glasgow, sending them into an instant rematch back at the Sportsground last Saturday, which the westerners handled superbly to see off the defending champions and book their place in a first final as a professional outfit.