'This one is going to hurt them for a long time' - Kearney on Leinster defeat

Few people outside of the Leinster camp know more about its inner workings than Rob Kearney.

The former Ireland full-back made over 200 appearances for the Blues over the course of a 15-year-stint that came to an end in 2020.

Just two days after a devastating Heineken Champions Cup loss to La Rochelle, Kearney says the defeat is going to be a tough pill to swallow for his former team-mates.

"This one is going to hurt them for a long time, it really will," says the 36-year-old ahead of Leinster's United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Glasgow on Saturday.

"It is great that they have the opportunity to still fight for a trophy.

"Of course, it's not the one that they or the club wanted but there's nothing worse than finishing a season on a final you've lost and you don't get an opportunity to play another game for a few months.

"The best thing for the whole group of players and the coaches is to get back on the horse straight away."

Kearney won 95 Irish caps and played three Tests for the Lions. Asked to recall his most painful defeats, they came quickly to mind.

"The two most devastating defeats in my career were, by a long shot, the Lions [second Test v South Africa] in 2009, and then when we played the All Blacks in the Aviva in 2013," said Kearney, who is part of the Premier Sports coverage this weekend.

"The game against the All Blacks stung for a long time and it took me weeks to get over.

"I don't remember a game for Leinster that hurt as much. I suppose Saracens in that Champions Cup final in 2019."

Leo Cullen left all bar Cian Healy, Joe McCarthy and Ciaran Frawley, replacements against La Rochelle, off the match-day squad for their URC victory over Munster on 21 May and Kearney reckons that the coach will now have