O'Driscoll: Defeat was emotional

LEINSTER and Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll feels Leinster’s second-straight Champions cup final defeat to La Rochelle could “leave a mark”

- NICK POWELL

O’Driscoll was part of the Leinster side that won three European titles between 2009 and 2012 and the Challenge Cup in 2013.

Having never lost in the four finals he contested he admitted he missed the experience of playing in European finals, but he did not envy the heartbreak they must have had to endure at full-time.

“Before the game I thought ‘Wow’. It was a big atmosphere, and it’s the biggest games make me miss it nine or ten years after I’ve retired. By the final whistle I thought ‘thanks be to god I’m not a rugby player anymore,’ with the emotions they must’ve been feeling.

“I was sad, as an ex-player and supporter of Leinster, and to be involved in that squad must have been a body blow.”

Though O’Driscoll never lost a European final – as Leinster have in three of the last five seasons – he understands the disappointment of finishing as a runner-up.

He experienced this three times in consecutive Celtic League, now URC, finals of from 20102012, and also finished second in the Six Nations four times from its inception in 2000 before finally winning for the first time in 2009.