Tommy O'Brien says Leinster can't afford to dwell on recent Champions Cup heartbreak as they prepare for Saturday's semi-final against Toulon.
Since last lifting the trophy in Bilbao in 2018, Leinster have endured a number of near misses, including a run of three final losses in a row between 2022 and 2024, and most recently last season's shock home defeat to Northampton in the semi-final.
Those close calls all form part of the narrative building up to this weekend's match at Aviva Stadium (3pm) against a Toulon side who won the competition three times on the bounce between 2013 and 2015.
"It's massive," said Ireland winger O'Brien, whose Leinster outfit have won all six games in this season's tournament.
"We talked about the disappointment of the semi-final loss last year.
"In that changing room we were all sitting there thinking we'd love another crack at a semi-final and have had to wait a year to get here and go through a lot of tough games to get ourselves back to this position.
"We're just very excited to give it a lash again.
"It's an ever-evolving group, there's always people coming in and out so each season is its own thing.
"Obviously, we know what's gone on in the past and people have been involved in past defeats but we are very much focused on this journey, what we've done together as a group this year and this season is its own goal."
O'Brien has become a regular in the Leinster team over the last couple of seasons and established himself in the Ireland squad after enduring a number of serious injuries earlier in his career.
Consistently one of the provinces best performers, the 27-year-old has scored 13 tries in 19 games for club and country this season.
"It's why you play the game, for these kind of days," he said.
"To get a run of games, I'm really enjoying my rugby at the moment. I'm really enjoying a load of semi-finals and finals I would have watched from the stands, whether that by being injured or not selected throughout the years.
"To get to the stage where I'm playing these big games is something I don't take for granted.
"I think [I'd put my form down to] a little bit more maturity, knowing my body and backing myself. I used to get quite nervous, maybe a bit more comfort in my own skin and ability to say 'I'm going to try things' and back my skills.
"Maybe I would have been scared to make mistakes [before] and now I'm more willing to express myself and when you play games to get confidence and things come off and it just compounds."
Meanwhile, Leo Cullen's side may be able to welcome back Ireland wingers James Lowe and Jordan Larmour, who have both returned to training but will not take chances on the fitness of Tadhg Furlong (above).
The Ireland tighthead has been troubled by niggly calf injuries in recent seasons and was withdrawn from Leinster's URC defeat to Benetton at the weekend after just 27 minutes. Loosehead Andrew Porter is also to be assessed later this week.
"Unless someone is 100% fit you are not going to risk them," scrum coach Robin McBryde said.
"Especially with the recent history of injuries with Tadhg; any sort of small feeling, alarm bells will naturally ring.
"It's making sure everyone is on top of everything and we are not putting anybody at risk. Hopefully it will be nothing major and we'll see them back sooner rather than later."
Toulon finished second in Pool 2 with three wins out of four including a 27-25 success over Munster before knocking out Stormers and Glasgow (away) to reach the last four.
Pierre Mignoni's men are currently eighth in the Top 14 after last weekend's 52-26 win over Bayonne.
