The squad captain has been recovering from a shoulder injury he picked up while on duty in the Guinness Pro 12 win over Ulster at the RDS at the beginning of the month.

In the squad update this week, forwards coach Leo Cullen put Heaslip's chance of recovery at 50/50.

However, speaking to reporters, he had not seemed very convinced that Heaslip would recover for this weekend's clash with Castres at the RDS, or that if a 'fit' Heaslip would be risked considering there's an even bigger game next week at Wasps. With Jack Conan flying in form at the minute, the latter would have been assumed.

Despite Heaslip's own fitness declaration, it remains to be seen if Matt O'Connor will include him in his starting team when it is named tomorrow at lunchtime.

"Ah the wolverine blood kicked in and it was grand, Matty (Matt O'Connor) just thought I needed a week off because he says I'm getting old, but I say I'm like Benjamin Button or I’m getting younger," a confident Heaslip joked today at the pre-match press conference.

"Monday, Tuesday and today I've been out at all the pitch sessions, throwing myself about so yeah I'm good to go."

Heaslip isn't prone to injury and the captain admits he was eager to get back as soon as possible to avoid missing this crucial window of European games.

"It was a bit more embarrassing than strange to be honest, I didn't know my way around the physio room or this thing called medicals that happen after games as well, that was a bit strange."

"I got a bit of a kick when I went to get my scans and they had to look back to 2010 to my last scan in a hospital and I think the doctor got a good giggle out of that because all my injuries are all on one sheet, whereas other lads have a few sheets full of stuff."

Leinster's opponents this weekend, Castres, have been struggling in the Top 14 in France and will be facing into a relegation scrap in that league, with that said they aren't expected to travel with a lot of artillery.

It is quite often said that French sides don't travel too well – and taking that into consideration, there is nearly an air of expectation that Leinster will come away with five points courtesy of a four-try bonus point win.

Coach Matt O'Connor and indeed other players this week have been playing down maximum points from this game which would certainly ease the pressure heading to Wasps and Heaslip agrees and says his side just need to work on getting the basics right.

"My focus wouldn't be on maximum points to be honest - that would be very nice, my focus would be for us to win, you can't get the five points unless you win so lets start there first."

"If you start focusing on five points, you might start pushing the game in situations where you don't need to where you just need to be more focused and going through phases and breaking them down will maybe get you the outcome you're looking for."

"Then you might get a little more breathing room, you might be able to apply more pressure and then you can start looking for that opportunity to chase maybe a second, third or fourth try."