ROG could help Ireland by showing them their weaknesses

It was a memorable Heineken Champions Cup final last Saturday evening in the Aviva stadium, where Leinster's hopes were dashed once again at the hands of Ronan O'Gara’s La Rochelle.

With the build-up to the game and the conversation surrounding Leinster’s dominance, budget and squad depth, there was always going to be an increased pressure on them to deliver.

They were desperate to get another star on their jersey, it’s been too long for this group of highly successful international stars, however the wait goes on as La Rochelle wrote their own piece of history by becoming back-to-back European champions.

The talk will now turn to how detrimental this Leinster loss is for Irish hopes in the World Cup.

It would have been great for Irish rugby to have the champions of Europe dominating their squad selection, as opposed to the runners-up.

In reality, this loss isn’t going to change many individual selections within the international set-up.

Will that loss affect the confidence of some of their players in terms of getting over the line? Do Leinster now carry the same mental block on Champions Cup finals as Ireland do in terms of reaching World Cup quarter-finals?

As a former Munster player, it was slightly strange to be willing Leinster on to success.

It's easy to align the two but you have to remember that Ireland aren’t Leinster and the Leinster management and staff are not those running the Irish set-up either.

Maybe it will rub off on Ireland in the right way. The players might become even hungrier to get over their club disappointment. You would hope that the pressure doesn’t get too much and this can be used in a positive light when aiming for an improvement in a World Cup.

As a former Munster player, it was slightly strange to