Richie Murphy insists his Ulster side will come back stronger next season, after their campaign came to a lacklustre end in Bilbao.
The province struggled badly in the withering heat as they were thrashed 59-26 in the EPCR Challenge Cup final by Montpellier, who will now have their sights set on a European and Top14 double.
Their heavy final defeat compounds a deflating few weeks for Ulster's season.
With four rounds to go in the URC last month, they looked well placed to challenge for a home quarter-final spot, before a run of three defeats and a draw saw them slip out of the top eight.
As such, they will miss out on the play-offs, as well as Champions Cup rugby for next season.
"It was a very difficult day, we came up against a real powerhouse of French rugby, right up at the top of the table and ultimately they had too much power for us tonight," the Ulster head coach said after their final defeat.
But despite recent results, Murphy stressed his belief that his team have taken real strides this season.
"I think we're a completely different team than we were this time last year.
"The rugby we played, reaching a European final - obviously was not the result that we wanted - all those things have had an impact on us making the top eight as well.
"Unfortunately we've had to move our resources around and at this moment in time our squad probably isn't strong enough to be able to compete in two competitions and ultimately still get into the top eight.
"So those guys will learn a huge amount from that experience and I think this will drive us forward because it gives us a taste of how good we have to be to be at the top end of Europe.
"We've done incredibly well to get this far, we're definitely not satisfied with that but we'll come back fighting again.
"At the start of the season, if you told me we’d get 52 points in the league and we’d be in a European final with a chance to win it, I probably would have taken your hand off. Fifty-two points has never not got into the top eight before," he added.
Conditions at the San Mames Stadium were brutal, with temperatures still up at 33C when the game kicked off at 9pm local time.
Both sides struggled badly with their handling early on, as the humidity caused mayhem, although Montpellier eventually got to grips with it to emphatically pull away.
"It was sweaty and greasy and I think they did a good job of putting our skills under pressure and flying off the line," Ulster captain Nick Timoney (above) said.
"They were physical in the contact and you probably saw that caused a couple of balls to come loose in contact.
"That was probably the main thing. It was hot and very similar for both teams. They maybe did a better job of holding onto it or being clinical with our mistakes."
And the flanker, who scored Ulster’s opening try which briefly sent them 7-0 in front, echoed his head coach that their painful experience will stand to them going forward.
"I haven't spoken to the group properly yet, but I guess the message will be the same as it's been last year, which is that we need to keep progressively trying to get better," Timoney, who was standing in as captain for the suspended Iain Henderson, added.
"I think we've done that certainly to an extent and we just need to keep pushing.
"As Richie touched on, we're a much better team than we were this time last year but as we saw tonight there's levels to go.
"Luckily for us we have a lot of young and talented players who have only been making a breakthrough this season and a lot of them played an integral part of today. It's an amazing experience for them and for people like me.
"All of us who are lucky enough to keep playing for us need to make sure that we're never satisfied with where our game's at.
"We need to keep pushing and getting better until Ulster Rugby is back where it should be."
