Caelan Doris stood in the bowels of San Mames Stadium and faced the question every Leinster captain of the past five years has had to answer. Five Champions Cup finals in five seasons, five defeats. Saturday's 41-19 dismantling at the hands of Bordeaux-Begles was the most chastening yet.
"You have to credit them," Doris told Premier Sports in his post-match interview. "Some of their attacking in that first half is incredibly hard to deal with. We obviously scouted them thoroughly, and a lot of it started in the contact area. If you're not winning that, you can see what they can do — capable of big moments out of nothing."
By half-time the scoreboard read 35-7 in Bordeaux's favour. Damian Penaud's outside-centre cameo opened up the blitz repeatedly. Yoram Moefana intercepted Harry Burn for one try and Louis Bielle-Biarrey carved through one-on-one for another in the closing seconds before the break. The damage was done before Leinster had a chance to find their composure.
"It's the story of the season a little bit, finding a way and composure," Doris reflected. "That was the message at half-time, but ultimately we left ourselves a little bit too much to do. There were quite a few opportunities we didn't take out there, which is obviously incredibly disappointing."
Leinster did win the second half. Lock Joe McCarthy crashed over from a maul when Maxime Lucu was yellow-carded for pulling McCarthy's hair, and Garry Ringrose finished off a sweeping move from Robbie Henshaw later on. But by then Bordeaux had two penalty goals from over 50 metres in the bank and the trophy effectively decided.
The harder questions now turn structural. Eggchasers Rugby's full-time review was blunt about Leinster's predicament.
"The blitz defence project appears to have failed. Serious questions are going to be asked about Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber. In attack, they looked all out of ideas. Realistically, they got well-beaten by a team that are fifth in the Top 14."
The fly-half question lingers in the background. Sam Prendergast was watching from the stands. Harry Burn — preferred for the start — was hooked early in the second half after a string of errors. Ciaran Frawley, who fronted Leinster's second-half comeback effort, is bound for Connacht next season. The Rugby Analyst channel put the brutal truth plainly.
"Leinster and Ireland have three very good fly-halves in Prendergast, Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley — but they're good, but not great, and definitely not up to Sexton level. It sounds harsh, but is that really how it is? And maybe they're losing the best all-rounder in Ciaran Frawley to Connacht next season."
Doris, for his part, refused to indulge the post-mortem mood.
"We've a special group, and we've a few boys moving on, so there's a massive motivation to finish on a high for them. We've got to stay together. We're going to have to celebrate them over the next few days before turning the page and trying to finish with silverware this season."
The URC remains. Leinster top the table and will host a quarter-final next weekend at the Aviva Stadium. But a fifth straight European final defeat — and the manner of this one, with the contest effectively over by half-time — will hang in the rafters of the RDS long after this domestic season is done.
Doris closed the press conference with the line that captains in his position have to find. "We've a special group of boys. There's no doubt we'll be back better again next year." Leinster supporters have heard the sentence before. The challenge for Leo Cullen's coaching staff over the coming summer is to make sure that, next May, it finally proves true.
