‘The worse dressing room I’ve experienced’ – Leinster fuelled by 2022 heartbreak

The Irish province meet La Rochelle again in the final in Dublin on Saturday, the team who denied them a record-equalling fifth EPCR crown in 2022.

Doris says the disappointment among the Leinster squad following the gut-wrenching 24-21 loss at the Stade Vélodrome was unbearable and is something they are desperate to avoid this year.

“Post La Rochelle and Marseille was the worst dressing room I’ve experienced,” he said. “Even some of the senior guys, Leo, lots of guys have been saying the same. You could feel the silence and the hurt.

“I think a lot of that came from the fact that individuals, me included, felt like we didn’t show our best versions of ourselves and put our best performances out there.

“Part of that was obviously because of La Rochelle and the plan they had, how good they are. But part of it was also us not putting our best foot forward.

“The best players show up on the big days. For me anyway, there’s a bit of a feeling that I didn’t shoot my shot or give it my best. Coming off sort of reinforces that I didn’t have a great game.

“Not wanting to feel how we felt in that dressing room is a big motivator for me, as well as wanting to feel the joy and experience that with friends and family at the Aviva.”

Leinster’s defeat in the 2022 final was a second loss at the hands of La Rochelle in two years, with the TOP 14 outfit triumphing 32-23 in the semi-finals the season prior.

Doris says his team were “bullied physically” in the 2021 meeting while issues at the breakdown contributed to their downfall last year.

“I actually thought we were better in the final in terms of stopping some of their big carriers,” he recalled. “Where we weren’t good at all was at the breakdown, where they caused havoc.

“We’ve seen the same this year against Saracens and Exeter, it’s definitely on the edge but they’re very good at it as well, just being complete nuisances.

“They’ve got so many breakdown threats across their team and that’s the key area for us. We’ve highlighted it, going back a while now, that teams are going to try and slow our breakdown, disrupt our attack and our main weapons.”

Doris says Leinster Heineken Champions Cup semi-finals success over Stade Toulousain and BKT United Rugby Championship triumph against Cell C Sharks recently are the ideal foundations for overcoming a pack of La Rochelle’s size and power.

“I think over the past couple of weeks Sharks and Toulouse have been good preparation for that [physicality], obviously very big packs themselves, the likes of [Emmanuel] Meafou, he’s a similar player to [Will] Skelton in some ways.

“It’s going to be a massive, physical battle again. The way they play around the breakdown and contesting very hard there, the collisions in general, are going to be key. We’re aware of that for sure.”