VETERAN DEV STILL STRIKING RIGHT TONE

TEAM NEWS

around him now,” said Toner. “We don’t have a lot of free time to ourselves, or for me thinking about rugby or anything else.

“So it kind of takes your focus off it. It means when you’re in here, when you’re on duty, you’re thinking more about what you’re trying to do, to get more work done.”

He’s come a long way from the first five years of his Leinster career, when he pored over internet forums to see how his performances rated.

Toner said: “I know outside of Leinster, people don’t like me as a player, didn’t like me at the start. Just because I stand out.

“The amount of s***e that you’d see, people calling you out and stuff. And it’s in that time of my career that I learned to block it all out. I don’t read papers, don’t look at media, don’t search my name. I don’t look at Twitter.“

There has been much said and written about how Leinster haven’t hit the heights again this season.

With Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw and Toner himself back in harness, the time to produce it is now.

“Fingers crossed,” stated Toner. “I don’t think performances have been up there, but I think there’s one there bubbling.”