NACEWA ADMITS HIS TEAM IS USING PAIN OF PAST FAILURES

ISA NACEWA could feel this Leinster performance was coming on the back of last year’s pain and the hunger exhibited this season.

The Blues skipper admitted the 2017 Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Clermont was a “tough pill to swallow” and that that reversal in Lyon was “etched in the back of our heads”.

“We’ve a really motivated squad,” said the 35-year-old. “They’re really hungry. There are a lot of guys who weren’t playing tonight who would have been itching to be there.

“We’ve talked about the Clermont defeat and we’ve learned from it.

“We take those learnings seriously. Look at guys like James Tracy, Dan Leavy, James Ryan in particular – they took on those lessons and ended up winning a Grand Slam.

“Then they come back here and the hunger’s huge. We learned from those places we fell down last year, we get up and go again and the young guys add a huge level of enthusiasm.”

Saracens boss Mark Mccall (inset) was full of praise for the Leinster performance after watching his back-to-back champions dumped out.

“They’re outstanding,” said the Ulsterman. “They were the best team in the pool stages and when we analysed them there weren’t many weaknesses to find.

“They had to defend for a long time and did it really well. They’ve got some some people on their team who can really hurt you on attack as well so they’re a very good, all-round team.”

But Mccall also believes Leinster got a bounce from 15 of their matchday squad playing a part in that Grand Slam. “It’s going to have some sort of effect,” he said. “We’ve had the luxury of having our players come back the past two seasons in great form physically and emotionally.”