Hugo Keenan, Leinster's Mr Dependable, feels he let himself down in last season’s Champions Cup final and is determined to put it right on Saturday.
The Ireland full-back was part of the losing side in Marseille when La Rochelle shocked the favourites to win their first ever Heineken Champions Cup.
Leinster had scored 47 tries in seven European games before the final but failed to cross the line in the 24-21 loss.
Keenan was the closest defender to Raymond Rhule when he scored the French side's first try but failed to lay a glove on the winger.
Fresh off the back of another stinging defeat, at home to Munster on Saturday, Leinster have a shot at revenge as the same pairing meet in Saturday's final at the Aviva Stadium [4.45pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player].
"On a personal level, I don’t think I performed in last year’s final," Keenan admitted on RTÉ's Against the Head.
"So getting individually myself right for that, there’s a few small things I’ve worked on over the last year. There have been learnings, not only from that game but a few losses that we did take.
"Collectively as well, we've looked back at the final and you've just got to use those experiences to drive you on.
"You can’t dwell on it too long but you can use that as extra motivation and bit of determination to go one step further this year."
Hooker Dan Sheehan [above left], who came on as a 14-minute replacement for Rónan Kelleher in last year's final, says defeat to Ronan O'Gara's side, who rested 12 frontliners in their loss to Montpellier at the weekend, still hurts.
The 24-year-old, who is likely to make his 16th Champions Cup appearance if named by Leo Cullen on Friday, said: "It was probably my first taste of a proper loss. I’ve been lucky to have been a few teams where losing hasn’t been a [common] occurrence.
"That’s the one loss that’s on the back of my mind. We probably let that one slip.
"It still hurts today and you look at a lot of teams and the losses hurt you more, you remember the losses almost more than the wins.
It’s brilliant that we get another shot at it. This time in the Aviva as well. It’s exciting times but we need to get our stuff right to get the job done."
O'Gara, of course, is not the only Irish connection at Stade Rochelais, who boast former Ireland lock Donnacha Ryan among the coaching staff, while ex-Connacht and Ireland second row Ultan Dillane [above] joined the club at the end of last season.
Dillane won 19 Ireland caps between 2016 and 2021 but fell down the pecking order and decided to move the country of his birth.
The 29-year-old has since made 28 appearances for the French team and has settled into the environment extremely well, according to wing Dillyn Leyds, man of the match in last year's final.
"Ulty is a good man. He is a really good guy," said the Springboks wing.
"He has integrated really nicely with the squad. He came in and like ROG, they have that mixed Irish/French accent, it's difficult to understand him, but if you spend enough time with him, you sort of figure out what they are saying!
"But Ulty is a good man, he is always one for getting the boys together on our days off, going for coffee. We recently started a brunch club, where we play cards, and Ulty was the catalyst for that.
"His form on the field in the last couple of games has been amazing. He is really good for us in the wide channels, carrying hard and getting us gain-line there.
"But not just that, his defence has been really, really good. It has probably been a standout feature of his play recently."
Watch the Heineken Champions Cup final, Leinster v La Rochelle, on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Saturday from 4pm, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
