Leinster head coach Leo Cullen says they owe it to their supporters to finish out the season in style, as they look to pick up the pieces following another Investec Champions Cup final defeat.
The four-time European Champions return to action in the BTK United Rugby Championship this evening, six days on from their agonising 31-22 extra-time defeat to Toulouse in the Champions Cup final, their fourth such defeat in the space of six years.
Cullen's side host Connacht at the RDS (kick-off 7.35pm) in their final game at the ground before redevelopment work starts in the summer.
The province are already assured of a quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium next week, but three defeats in their last four URC outings leaves them exposed to a potential semi-final away from home.
The Leinster coach admits he can understand the frustrations of supporters.
"When you lose a game and there’s a team you support, and particularly if you’ve gone to great expense to support a team, you will have frustrations with the way things unfolded.
"That's the pointy end, and we’re at the pointiest end of club rugby in the world. That’s the level we’re operating off.
"For us, we’ve primarily guys who’ve come through a home-grown system and we want to help them on their journey and be able to deliver big performances, because they’ve such a vested interest in the team. I can see the work they put in on a day-to-day basis, on and off the field.
"I think they’re a great group, they live the values of the team and want to make people proud of their performances.
"When they don't achieve that, listen, trust me, they’re hurting more than anybody.
"I understand the frustrations that are out there. For the people who are angry or frustrated, everyone is working their best to make people proud. It matters a huge amount to them."
With a six-day turnaround from the grueling extra-time loss, Cullen has made 14 changes to his side for the Interpro against Connacht, with Jamie Osborne (below) the only member of last week's starting side to retain his place.
And while the majority of this week's squad didn't feature in the final against Toulouse, Cullen says it's been a challenge to pick the players up this week.
"It's a tricky mix, it’s a short week, we’ve tried to make some calls to freshen up the group because a lot of guys have played 100 minutes of rugby at the weekend, and it’s a six-day turnaround," he added.
"There’s a human side to it, and everyone processes disappointment slightly differently. The group were gutted, you could see that in the ground.
"There was the players on the field, the 23 guys that are out there, you’ve the playing group on the sidelines, all the backroom team, all the supporters in the stadium, all the supporters and friends and families that watched the game somewhere else.
"Everyone feels some level of disappointment and hurt.
"People get angry about things, as you go through this grieving cycle, you just have to go back and try turn the page somehow, as quickly as you can."
In spite of their European disappointment, Cullen says they're determined to finish their season on a high.
This evening's game will be a final outing at the RDS for the retiring Rhys Ruddock, as well as Ed Byrne and Ross Molony, who are moving to Cardiff and Bath, respectively, this summer.
"We’ve an obligation, a responsibility, to put out performance against Connacht, and Connacht will have had good preparation coming into the game, we’ve had pretty disjointed preparation coming into this game.
"On the flip side both teams will have players that probably won't represent the clubs again, so there’s always that bit of emotion at this time of year as well.
"The week has been a challenge, I won't lie to you, because of the disappointment, but everyone is pushing forward because they know there’s something very tangible still at stake in terms of the next three and a bit weeks."
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