Leinster issued a warning to their Heineken Cup rivals that they are in no mood to relinquish their grip on the trophy with a 34-3 hammering off Cardiff at the Aviva Stadium.
The reigning kings of Europe set up a semi-final showdown with either Saracens or Clermont, who are the last side to beat the Irish province in the competition back in 2010, by crushing their RaboDirect PRO12 rivals.
Rob Kearney bagged a brace of tries and Brian O'Driscoll marked his return to Heineken Cup action with a score as the hosts cruised through.
The heavy defeat caps a miserable week for the Blues, who lost Jamie Roberts for the rest of the season through injury and then dispensed with the services of Gavin Henson after a far-from straightforward return flight from Glasgow last weekend.
Tankfully there were no issues for the club on their journey across to Dublin, though the absence of both Roberts and flanker Sam Warburton meant they always travelled in hope rather than expectation.
The early signs were good when Leigh Halfpenny wiped the blood from his nose to kick a penalty in the opening minute, but all that blow seemed to do was anger Leinster into action.
A Sexton penalty levelled matters and the fly-half was then twice involved in the move that led to Nacewa going over, full-back Kearney opting to give the ball to the winger on his outside rather than select those in support on his left.
Cardiff's creaky scrum gave away a further three points and when Kearney broke through some paper-thin tackling to waltz in under the posts, the race was run for the visitors after just 30 minutes.
A sublime line-out move allowed O'Driscoll to get his name on the scoresheet, Luke Fitzgeral unselfishly offloading after being set free by a no-look inside ball from Sexton that drew gasps from the crowd as they watched i on the replay on the big screen.
The conversion made it 27-3 at the break, suggesting a repeat of the 52-9 mauling the Blues suffered at the RDS earlier this season was on the cards.
It took just six minutes of the second half for a fourth try to arrive, Kearney on hand to take O'Driscoll's offload with Sexton adding the extras.
However, that ended up proving to be the last points of the evening as both teams then took great pride in showing off their defensive capabilities, albeit a little too late in the day for Cardiff.
Martyn Williams thought he'd got across the line for the Blues but the TMO ruled the flanker had not grounded the ball, denying the Welsh side even a consolation effort.
To their credit, they refused to be breached again at the other end of the field, despite Tom James seeing yellow in a frantic final few minutes.
Leinster certainly made a case for the defence in the second half, meaning their bid to become just the second team to win the trophy in back-to-back seasons remains firmly on course.