Felipe Contepomi is convinced that Ulster are a better side than they were when they came so close to knocking out Leinster in Europe last season.
The Blues really had to dig deep when on the ropes to claim a 21-18 victory in March 2019 and Leinster 's attacking coach confessed that Ulster were unlucky to lose on the day.
Contepomi expects more of the same - and more - when Dan McFarland's men from the north return to the Aviva Stadium for Saturday's PRO14 final.
"It was a hell of a game and they definitely are a much better team even than they were that day," said Contepomi.
"It was so even. They were probably even a bit unlucky.
“So we’ve learned. Ulster are definitely one of the best sides in the league, if not in Europe, in terms of their balance.
"They have a very solid, well-coached defence by Jared Payne, a very good attack with Dwayne Peel there and Dan with the skills.
"They’re a skilful, powerful team, they have punch going forwards. They’re a very complete team. It’s not like they came from nowhere and suddenly they’re in the final.
“They’ve been building and with Dan, we can expect them to be really firing upfront - a good scrum and maul. When you scout them, it’s hard to find any real weaknesses.
“So we know that to beat them we’ll need to go for 80 minutes from minute one. They’re a side that doesn’t give up, but not only that they play really good rugby, with and without the ball.
“I’m expecting a really big, big challenge from them. We need to step up one or two gears to be able to win.”
Contepomi sees the signing of ex-Leinster ace Ian Madigan as a pointer to the quality added by McFarland since then.
Madigan made his Blues debut in May 2009 - the same month as Contepomi's time there ended through injury in a Heineken Cup semi-final.
The Dubliner went on to play in France and England, and his recent return to Ireland with Ulster has already delivered the spectacular victory against Edinburgh to set up this shot at the holders.
‘Mads is a very good player with such experience," acknowledged Contepomi.
"That speaks how good about how much depth that Ulster has - they have Billy Burns, and then Mads coming in and winning the game for them with those two kicks under pressure."
Leinster reined in their indiscipline in last Friday's semi-final win against Munster. They needed to after conceding 17 penalties when they met the Reds in Irish rugby's first game back.
The mission will be to prevent John Cooney, Burns or Madigan from getting free shots at the posts and to the corners.
"We've given away some silly penalties," admitted Contepomi. "That’s what we’re working on.
"We’ve improved, but there’s a long way to go to be a disciplined side. The cruel reality is that in our past three games, we've had more penalties than the opposition.
"Hopefully we can get it right this weekend because they're a massive threat with such good kickers."
