Connacht head to the Aviva Stadium on Friday with a huge task on their hands after Leinster claimed a 26-21 victory at The Sportsground in the first leg.

Bealham reminded his teammates that it is simply ‘half time’ in the contest, and that they are very much in contention for a place in the quarter-finals.

“It felt like a proper test match on Friday, with the physicality and the pace of the game,” the Ireland international told Connacht’s website.

“No doubt there were a lot of sore bodies on Saturday and Sunday morning. But we get to go at it Friday night again at the Aviva and it will be exciting. It is great to be part of it all.

“Losing on Friday was obviously tough to take. But then you have to remember it’s half time in it, and we’re only five points down and we’re still in the sheds, and we’re ready to go for round two on Friday.

“But it was a tremendous effort from both teams last Friday, and we played some really lovely rugby.”

The 30-year-old admitted that Connacht will have to put in a perfect performance to progress further in the competition as he implored his team to eradicate certain errors.

“We’ve had a good look back at the game over the weekend and done our reviews and everyone is raring to go Friday and hopefully it will be another belter,” he said.

“Yeah, it was a massive game Friday and obviously the team Leinster sent down was stacked with internationals and a wealth of experience in there as well.

“So, we knew all week that we had to be at our very best. Look, obviously, we didn’t win the game and there are areas we were very good in, but there were certain things we were poor at and we definitely need to tidy up come Friday.”

Connacht Rugby prop Finlay Bealham has called on his side to polish certain aspects of their game as they look to overturn a five-point deficit at Leinster Rugby in the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 second leg.