Contepomi says lessons learned but laments La Rochelle 'cynicism' in Champions Cup final loss

Leo Cullen and Robyn McBride faced the press when the wounds of the Champions Cup final defeat were still raw.

Having just taken a beating in Marseille, in a game they started as heavy favourites, they had to suck it up and go through the media motions.

First, Cullen was interviewed immediately post-match on the side of the pitch, and then forwards coach McBride two days later as part of a Monday updates via a virtual press conference.

Leinster were outscored three tries to none, were unable to close out a game from eight points up and failed to take full advantage of a second-half yellow card for La Rochelle.

Nine days later, with a United Rugby Championship semi-final bagged following a surreal 76-14 win over Glasgow, has the cold light of day given the Leinster management some more insight into what went wrong?

"Definitely La Rochelle is a game for us to learn from and we took the lessons and we keep revising them," backs and attack coach Felipe Contepomi told RTÉ Sport.

"It's not that we were trashed by La Rochelle, we could have, should have, could have won that game. It was just succh small margins. You are playing against a very good team and you can lose.

"It’s very easy in hindsight and obviously from a coaches’ point of view with three or four cameras and behind a computer [it's easier to assess but] it’s in the midst of the day how you react [that's important].

"I don’t know if tactically...I think the game we wanted to play, we’ll keep trying to play the game.

"It wasn't tactically bad. But there are certain moments where we can get better, certain moments where we could have done something differently.

"Every game is different but hopefully we get to similar situations we can pick better options or the options we have