Champions of Europe they may be, but Leo Cullen and his lads have tugged the forelock Toulouse’s way ever since the final whistle sounded on their own 52-3 hit-job on Wasps in round one of the Heineken Champions Cup last Friday.

The French side’s rich history and winning tradition has been shoehorned into any and all public utterances, helped in no small part by a volume of questions from the media focusing on the TOP14 side that has gone far beyond what would normally be reserved for any opponent at such gatherings.

Such is the hold Toulouse still have over us all.

They kind of represented French rugby for me when I was young, when I was 16, 17, 18 and kind of looking up at French rugby,” said Devin Toner, who is one of only a few men with four European Cup medals. “They were obviously the best of the best at the time.

Forwards coach John Fogarty was much the same.

It was put to the former hooker that, for all their glorious past and still considerable financial muscle, Toulouse’s grunts simply aren’t as well-conditioned as their Irish counterparts. His reply was classic deflection from the point at hand.

“Mike Ross was a player who was told he wasn’t professionally ready,” said the Tipperary man. “He played in a high-performing team and did very well.

“Their players, they can play the game to their pace. When you watch them, they’ve got lots of rugby intelligence, really smart in how they can... you’re defending and they’re rumbling along at a pace that suits them. Then they can break out and just catch you.”

Toulouse on their own patch will make for a sizeable ask, but this is not the daunting mission it was when Leinster last pitched up in the ‘Pink City’ for a game that then head coach Michael Cheika built up as the toughest in his five years in charge.

Their hosts back on May Day in 2010 brought 21 internationals to the skirmish over the 80-plus minutes. The side that accounted for Bath in somewhat fortunate circumstances last weekend had just 11 men in their ranks who have tasted the Test arena.

Toulouse aren’t nearly as good now as then.

Leinster are clearly better.

Cullen had 27 internationals from which to parse a starting XV and supporting cast last weekend at home to Wasps and concerns over the fitness of Cian Healy, Rob Kearney and Dan Leavy do little to counter the sense of strength about the reigning champions.

Come Sunday, Cullen will have close to a full hand available to him. A rare enough state of affairs in modern professional rugby, it is an advantage that has been extended by the nine-day lag between this game and the Wasps walkover.

With a trip to Benetton six days later and the Ireland contingent switching focus towards the November internationals, Cullen can and will name his strongest selection possible, safe in the knowledge there is nothing else to stay his hand.

Does he promote Sean O’Brien off the bench? How does he fit the Carlow man, a possibly fit Dan Leavy, Josh van der Flier, Rhys Ruddock and Jack Conan into the four back row squad places available? Will Jamison Gibson-Park, Scott Fardy or James Lowe watch the game in civvies?

Even Toulouse must shake their heads at such excess.

When you go to France, experience and having experienced players that have been there before and won’t be shocked or surprised with the intensity is very important,” said Fogarty. “It’s good that we have those nine days and we’ll see how they get on.

“The squad is very competitive and that’s something that we focused on a long time ago, developing our squad and our academy and that has happened over the last five or six years. That is why we are where we are.

“There is competition for places and there is a realisation in players’ mind that you have to be injury-free, training well and playing consistently well and you’ll get selected. We’re not going to pick a player because what he has done in the past has been brilliant.

“We’re starting to get that now. Someone like Stuart [Lancaster] would be very strong on that, that team dynamic. Selection is clear in their heads. There is no-one down there thinking ‘it’s my turn now’.”