This season was always going to be different for Leinster. Senior coach Stuart Lancaster, a key architect of the club’s 2018 European triumph, left for Racing 92 while talismanic fly-half Johnny Sexton had retired after the World Cup.
To offset Lancaster’s departure, Leinster issued an unmistakable statement of intent by bringing in Jacques Nienaber, the defensive mastermind behind South Africa’s World Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2023.
They began the season seeking redemption on two fronts, of course, having fallen to rivals Munster in the United Rugby Championship semi-finals a week prior to their collapse against La Rochelle.
But while reclaiming the league title remains a possibility in the weeks ahead, extinguishing the continental hurt of recent years has been this group’s driving ambition.
And they have certainly navigated their European mission with aplomb, winning all seven matches en route to the final including two morale-boosting wins over La Rochelle: in Stade Marcel-Deflandre in their Pool D opener and in Dublin last month, a dominant 40-13 success ending Ronan O’Gara’s side’s three-in-a-row dream.
There have been bruising tests of character in this run, too. Against Northampton in the semi-final, Leinster surged into a 20-3 lead thanks to James Lowe’s superb hat-trick, which took the Ireland wing to six tries in this season’s competition.
Leinster had thrilled a sold-out Croke Park, but when a converted Tom Seabrook try brought the Saints back to within three points, the home fans began to fear a harrowing sequel to La Rochelle’s heroics.
Instead, Leinster came through a nail-biting experience to secure another shot at winning European club rugby’s most coveted prize. In the context of what Leinster have been through in recent years, it was a huge win.