Bernard Jackman says Leinster need to play with greater adventure against La Rochelle in Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup final at the Aviva Stadium (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
Leo Cullen's side face the defending champions in the final for the second year in a row, while the French side also came out on top when they met in the semi-finals in 2021.
Twelve months ago, Leinster were held tryless in their 24-21 defeat to Ronan O'Gara's side in the final in Marseille, with La Rochelle scoring the winning try with the final play of the game.
Leading up to last year's decider Leinster had been in red-hot form, scoring 343 points and 47 tries across seven matches, while they've been similarly devastating in attack this season, averaging 44 points-per-game.
In the 2022 final, La Rochelle's repeated indiscipline in their own half saw Leinster continually win penalties, but rather than kick for the corner, the four-time champions opted to build a score with three-pointers, something that ultimately suited their opponents.
And Bernard Jackman says if they can forces La Rochelle into conceding similar penalties this year, they need to make a statement early on and trust their maul to give them tries.
"I think Leinster have to go to the corner if they have kickable penalties early doors," he told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
"If they can't convert them, then they flip and take points, or try score in open play. But early doors, if Leinster take shots at goal, that will give La Rochelle belief. I think La Rochelle's attack will score."
Have La Rochelle got even better in 2023?
And while Jackman believes La Rochelle are better equipped to defend the tight exchanges than Leinster's previous opponents were, he says the province have made improvements to their maul attack this season.
"I think they have put a huge focus on being able to convert those maul opportunities this year, their maul is better.
"Their body height, their ability to have a shift-drive quite quickly and win that forward momentum, and not give the opposition a chance to recover, they've spent a huge amount of time on it.
"The ultimate test of it will be La Rochelle. It's worked well in the URC and other games in Europe, but this is a bigger pack than they come up against, and with Donnacha Ryan they [La Rochelle] have someone who has given this pack who have massive power and size a lot of detail as well. They're more detailed than the Toulouse pack in how they maul and defend mauls," he added.
Former Munster and Connacht centre James Downey joined Jackman on the podcast, and says he thinks Leinster will have learned lessons from how they approached last year's final in Marseille.
"If you're looking at how the game will go, I do think Leinster need to go out and attack," he said.
"I don't think it will be enough against a French side to go 3-6-9, even if it's a cup game. I do think Leinster will need to score, and they're pretty efficient once they get into the 22 and the five-metre channel.
"You'd want them to back that confidence they have over the last while and send it into the corner, and have a go."
Of course, kicking to the corner depends on winning midfield penalties, and Downey says if they're coming up against a more disciplined La Rochelle this year, then they'll need to raise the tempo of the game in order to fatigue the bigger French pack.
"I think if it's a close game, it's going to suit La Rochelle. If it's going to be scrums, lineouts and mauls it will suit the heavy boys.
"I know Leinster might not have as much bulk, but I think that by moving the ball around, trying to change and fatigue those heavy front five forwards, so they can't impact the game as much, they can't carry as hard, it's going to be key," he added.
The size and power of the La Rochelle forwards was a major factor in each of their wins agaisnt Leinster in the last two years, with the province making strides to bridge that gap this year with the signing of Jason Jenkins from Munster.
The big South African lock has had to play the role of impact sub in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup this season though, with Ross Molony (below) having started ahead of him in the Round of 16, quarter, and semi-finals.
And Jackman says he expects Leinster to continue with Molony from the start on Saturday, holding the powerful Jenkins back until later in the game.
"They signed Jason Jenkins to give them that extra power in that area, but Ross Molony's form has meant - up to now - that Jenkins has had to come off the bench.
"For teams like Toulouse, La Rochelle, Bulls etc, Jenkins was brought in to give them that extra bit of physicality, but maybe his role is off the bench to give them the physicality and power late in the game.
"You don't want to show them any weakness at scrum or maul time. To be fair to Jenkins I think he's improved. His footballing has improved has improved under Leinster's coaching, what he was being asked to do at Munster was different under Johann [van Graan] and he was injured a lot. He looks more mobile and a ball-player.
"Ross Molony has been outstanding, he's Leinster's go-to lineout player. They'll feel that quality lineout possession, in the areas that aren't maul opportunities, is nearly more important. Leinster have an array of strike-play opportunities that gets them on the front foot, hurts teams, and Molony, with his ability to read lineouts, call and win them himself, is a big part of it.
"I think they will go Molony to start and have Jenkins there as a bit of a safety blanket," Jackman added.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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
