Leinster 'need to hold onto the hurt' of last season

Given the size of the crossover between the two sides, when the mood around Irish rugby shifts, so too does the mood around Leinster.

As the New Zealand tour loomed in June, confidence seemed low.

Beaten in heartbreaking circumstances by La Rochelle in the Champions Cup final, Leinster finished the season empty-handed after they were flattened by the Bulls in the semi-final of the United Rugby Championship.

Fast-forward through the summer, and as Ireland's internationals returned to training with Leinster last week, they did so with a skip.

Mentally and physically refreshed, confidence restored, but as Hugo Keenan warns, they haven't forgotten the pain of last season.

"After such a disappointing end with Leinster it was a good way to bounce back and finish the summer on a high, the full-back said.

"It means you're coming back in in good spirits but I think we still need to hold on to the hurt from last year and how that season ended for us to motivate us to go one better this year and crack into it again.

"We're going to be using that as extra motivation, not that we need it now, I think it's been too long since we've won the Champions Cup. I've never won one and it's our big goal, it's the one we talk about and yeah, I think we're really looking forward to cracking into the season and starting to build.

"And I think that's important, you can even see in the URC that it's getting more and more competitive, so a fast start in those first seven games before the international break are huge just to put yourself in a good position and a good platform to take the season on."

After the Test series in New Zealand, Keenan made the short trip across the Tasman for a holiday in Australia, visiting friends in Byron Bay, Brisbane and Sydney