Dingwall and Saints set for another 'cool' clash with Leinster

From sitting at home watching the 2011 Heineken Cup showpiece, to playing in the semi-final showdown at Croke Park last season, Dingwall has been on the emotional roller coaster.

But this Saturday, he is desperate for it to end on a high rather than a crushing low.

Saints have only won won competitive meeting with Leinster since the Irish giants recovered from going 22-6 down at half-time to win the Heineken Cup final against the black, green and gold in Cardiff 14 years ago.

The only one of nine meetings since then that Saints have been victorious in came back in 2013, when Jim Mallinder's men bounced back from a 40-7 demolition on the previous weekend to secure a stunning 18-9 win at the Aviva Stadium.

Saints came agonisingly close to replicating that success last year, seeing a late fightback fall just short as they lost 20-17 to Leinster at Croke Park.

And now England centre Dingwall is looking forward to having another go at a team who are fancied to go all the way and win another Cardiff final this season.

"It's cool, isn't it?" said Dingwall, who is fit to play after passing the head injury assessment he had at the end of last weekend’s game against Bristol Bears. "It's kind of a re-run of last year, which is the cool thing.

"Obviously it's the Aviva this time, which is cool as well, just to mix it up slightly.

"We've got a different team, they've got a slightly different team and it's just an incredibly exciting prospect.

"Having played them last year and enjoyed the occasion and what a challenge and test that game was, to get a shot at it again a year later is really exciting."

Saints let nerves get the better of them early on last May, going 20-3 down before closing the gap to just three points late on.

But they couldn't summon the final score that would have sent them to the European showpiece.

"We probably took a bit too long initially to realise that we were very capable of beating them and that we were well in the game," Dingwall said.

"It was almost a little bit too late at one point.

"We came close at the end but we probably stood back and watched a bit to start with, rather than just going and seeing where we would end up. That's my reflection on it.

"We were very grateful to have played that game in the end because it actually showed how good we were.

"I've got no doubt it's the same this year and, yes, they've got lots of good players, but so have we.

"They've got internationals and so have we.

"I don't really have any worry about if we're able to go there and compete, I feel like we can go there and come away with a win."

Reflecting further on last year's clash, Dingwall said: "It was just our errors and a few of their tries we were just half per cents off and that's kind of the mindset of how the game was approached.

"When it flicked to 'hang on, if we get our stuff right here, we're causing trouble', that's where opportunities started to come for us.

"I still reflect on it very fondly last year and it's probably one of my favourite occasions for Saints even though we didn't win, just because of the whole occasion, where it was, the challenge and then also the learnings that came from it."

Saints may not have grabbed European glory last season, but they did claim the crown in the Gallagher Premiership, beating Bath in a nerve-shredding final at Twickenham.

"After that (Leinster) game we were all gutted," Dingwall said. "I truly believed we were going to do it and so it did hurt everyone a lot.

"I've said from then that I don't think we would have won the Prem if we had won that game because I don't think it would have given us the learnings we needed.

"There's definitely some history in this fixture, beyond these two games in the Champions Cup.

"It's just exciting to get another chance to write another chapter of it."

Dingwall was a big Saints fan as a boy, dreaming of one day wearing the black, green and gold.

But asked whether he ever truly believed he would be involved in occasions like the one that awaits this weekend, he said: "Probably not to be honest.

"I watched that final (in 2011) when Saints were massively up at half-time.

"I remember being at home and being very excited at half-time and then being gutted at the end of the game, as I imagine all Saints fans were.

"Every time I get to play in these big occasions for Saints, it is a bit of a pinch-me moment because of how I grew up supporting the club.

"To reflect on that however many years later and to now be playing makes everything very, very cool."