Leo Cullen: Last season's near misses have sharpened focus

Leinster were left with a hollow feeling following the disappointing conclusion to last season but Leo Cullen said it has "sharpened the focus" as they prepare to return to competitive action.

Three months since their five years of domestic dominance was halted by the Bulls, Leinster travel to Italy to face Zebre Parma in their United Rugby Championship opener, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

Cullen admitted there was a "flatness" to Leinster towards the end of last season and has been working hard to avoid a repeat in this campaign.

"There was a lot of really good stuff [last season]," said the Leinster head coach. "You get to a European Cup final and are ahead going into the last couple of minutes. You've clearly done a lot of good things to get to that point. You're not there by accident, but you lose the game and everyone thinks that's a catastrophe.

Josh van der Flier: "The lads who were over in New Zealand are coming off a great finish to the season but you have to be quite sensitive with it. The other guys in the changing room, the last game they played was losing against the Bulls." #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/tXCbAuc53G

"There are definitely parts in the game [you can improve], and you can see with some of the guys even on tour in New Zealand and the adjustments they made in terms of decision-making, either for the team or individual decisions in game, it's ever-evolving.

"You've good players coming into the team and you want them to grow. Even the most experienced guys, there's always parts of their game that they can improve and learn.

"At the end of last season, there was a little bit of flatness in the air. It was playing rugby in June. We tried to address that.

"This season we went on a 12-county tour of Leinster. We