Very few of the Leinster squad played close to their potential against Bordeaux-Begles in the Champions Cup final but the performance of Ciarán Frawley off the bench was a rare positive.
Playing catch-up after a chastening 35-7 first-half demolition, Leo Cullen's side were never going to claw back such a deficit against the defending champions.
But Frawley, who will depart for Connacht at the end of the season, provided some of the brighter moments as Leinster fought a losing battle.
The 28-year-old out-half replaced Harry Byrne in the 45th minute and carried 12 times for 50 metres, while beating four defenders and getting two offloads away.
With Sam Prendergast out of form and Byrne's early season momentum stalling, the decision to let Frawley, capped 13 times by Ireland, make the switch to a rival province will raise questions, albeit Leinster were adamant they wanted to keep him.
He worked his way back into Andy Farrell's plans during the Six Nations but struggled to get game time at Leinster, most notably not starting a game at out-half in over a year, preferred instead at full-back and centre.
That appears to have informed his decision to reunite with former Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster at the Dexcom Stadium.
Frawley was asked about the move following Leinster's defeat in Bilbao: "Yeah, well, you look at what Connacht are building, Stuart Lancaster after coming back - I worked under Stuart for quite a while, an unbelievable coach.
"I have a lot of respect for him, he has a lot of respect for me. I think Connacht are trending in the right direction.
"It came down to where am I guaranteed game time or whatever, and jumping to Galway, that could be it.
"It was a tough decision to make, it is never easy leaving the club you grew up supporting, it's so special to play for Leinster, I’m absolutely chuffed to have the caps I do and if you told me when I was a kid that I was going to have these caps, I wouldn’t believe you.
"So it’s unbelievably special, but it’s also really sad to leave.
"I think it's just getting game time, was the main thing for me. Look, I feel like I'm in good form at the minute, I'm getting the game time now with Leinster.
"Things are going well towards the end of the season, in terms of the form or whatever, but it was at the time when the conversations were going on, it was just probably the guarantee the game time more so."
Frawley (above) has made 123 appearances for Leinster since making his debut in 2018. He has won the URC five times and wants to sign off on a high.
"I'm just taking it week by week," he said of Leinster's URC quarter-final with Lions on Saturday.
"It’s going to be knockout rugby now and I don’t want any week to be your last; I want to make the most of the time I’ve left with Leinster because Leinster have given me so much.
"It was my boyhood club, I grew up supporting Leinster and I love Leinster at the end of the day, so it was always a tough decision to move, but I want to end on a high.
"I said to myself last night, Jesus what a great way to end if I win the double, but sport is just incredibly cruel at times and that’s just not the way it is. Look we’ll dust ourselves down and get on with the Lions next week."
Leinster conceded five first-half tries against UBB, the last of which came when they tapped a free kick from inside their own 22 before giving up an interception to Yoram Moefana (above).
"I'm all for the attitude of the lads at the end of the first half, I thought it was a great decision to go for it because you narrow the gap," said the Skerries man of that decisive moment.
"Unfortunately it just kind of… but it obviously extends the lead for Bordeaux at the end.
"But I liked the mentality of going for it.
"Coming on then, we had great belief in ourselves that if we stuck to our process, something special would happen.
"We alluded to that final against Northampton [in 2011], that the previous team with the likes of Johnny [Sexton] were part of in Cardiff. We thought it could be a special day like that.
"But when you come up against an outfit like Bordeaux, it’s always a tough ask.
"I thought the lads dug in deep in that second half especially, probably won the second half 12-6, but it wasn’t enough.
"Probably against 14 men a good chunk of the time in that second half, so yeah, it's tough.
"It doesn't get any easier losing, so I've had four losses now, so it doesn't get any easier but the character the lads shown was really good."
