Isa Nacewa convinced Clermont agony will be making of Leinster

Isa Nacewa is convinced Leinster’s young guns can only benefit from their Champions Cup semi-final heartbreak last month as they try and go at least one step further in this season’s Guinness PRO12 play-offs.

Leinster play a home semi-final against in-form Scarlets at the RDS Arena in eight days, a first return to knockout rugby since their bid to reach this weekend’s European finale came up agonisingly short in a 27-22 defeat to Clermont Auvergne in Lyon.

It was a setback very much their own doing after a disastrous start saw them concede two early tries and trail 15-3 at half-time as captain Nacewa was sent to the sin bin in the eighth minute.

A spirited fightback was only undone by a couple of Camile Lopez drop goals but three-time Heineken Cup winner Nacewa, 34, said he learned a lot about his younger team-mates in what was for many their first big semi-final.

“That we’ve got a dogged team, that we aren’t happy just getting to a semi-final,” the Leinster captain said. “We saw the reactions on guys’ faces after that and the fact we didn’t talk to each other for a good couple of days, it was a sign that there is a lot of competition in the team and a lot of drive and desire.

“You only learn that going through hard times.

“It is pretty tough standing on the halfway in Lyon in a huddle, knowing that you’ve just fallen short of making it to the final. I think I’ve found it worse losing in a semi-final than a final.

“But, it was a pretty tight huddle out there. We had to take learnings from that game to really kick on. The guys that played that game, and even the guys that didn’t, will have been hurting. Hopefully, we have all taken learnings from that because we don’t want that feeling again.”

There were also specific lessons Nacewa took from that loss at Stade de Gerland three weeks ago, not just for the team but on a personal level following his early yellow card for a pull on Clermont wing David Strettle’s jersey.

“Maybe blocking the emotion out and focusing on your own performance could have done us better at the start of the game. Not getting a dumb yellow card at the start of the game might have helped the situation.

“It is about your performance. We didn’t start well against Clermont and that is one thing we have to remedy.”

Nacewa knows Leinster will definitely have to find a fix ahead of their PRO12 semi with Scarlets a week tomorrow night, with the West Wales region winning their fifth game in a row last weekend in a 40-17 hammering of local rivals and fellow semi-finalists Ospreys.

“Scarlets are in top form,” the Leinster skipper said. “But, they’ve been in good form the whole season. The fact they pushed on through November and the Six Nations with good quality wins showed they were going to be at the right end of the table at the end of the year.

“Their kicking game is class. They‘ve got strike weapons all along their backline that have been playing well the whole year. They’ve done the hard work to get to a semi-final.”

Leinster secured a home semi-final with three rounds to spare but missed out on top spot in the final league table with a final-round loss to Ulster at Ravenhill last Saturday, pipped by Munster.

Nacewa disputed both the perception that Leinster would be favourites against Scarlets and that no away team had won a PRO12 semi-final would be a source of comfort to the home side.

“I just see teams that work hard enough to get to a semi-final and have been through ups and downs to get here. It is finals footie. Both teams will just have to go out and play.

“We don’t think about it that way. Being in the top two and having a home semi-final was a target for us at the start of the year. We’ve done a lot of hard work to get to that point. That’s the way we think.”