Victor Vito got an insight into Stuart Lancaster's thinking when they talked together over Zoom during the pandemic.
And former All Black Vito admits he took the senior Leinster coach's advice on board in terms of building the sort of environment at La Rochelle that the province had already established.
Ironically, that new environment at the Top 14 club helped them to get over the line against Leinster in last year's Champions Cup semi-final - and the clubs meet again on Saturday, in the tournament decider.
“They’re a very proud team," said Vito. "With Stuart Lancaster, they were always going to be bounce back from something like that.
"I could see when I went to see them in the changing rooms after the game in La Rochelle last year how much it hurt.
"The way they really work on their identity, I spoke to Stuart Lancaster over Covid because we never dreamed we would be seeing each other in rugby and he talked to me about creating an identity, creating a solid group and how you can pull things together on and off the field.
"And obviously I took little titbits that I thought could help improve our environment.
"I could just tell after that game that they were going to be back. I also knew they didn’t have some guys, like Jamison Gibson-Park and Johnny Sexton, so I wasn’t blind to that fact."
The 35-year-old flanker also paid tribute to Rona O'Gara, who stepped up from assistant coach at La Rochelle last year to guide the club to the European final in his first year as head coach.
"What he’s been able to give us is the belief and the ability to really aim high in terms of what we can achieve," Vito said.
"We had made a final my first year in 2017. It wasn’t a fluke but no-one really took us seriously - now teams know about us but it’s a lot harder to win now.
"If anything we needed to take our game and our belief to a new level because that’s what wins trophies and championships.
"We’ve been able to do that with what Ronan is bringing in a new system and some new tips and what he’s learnt from his days in Ireland and also in New Zealand (with Crusaders).
“I’d already left when he was in New Zealand but he was at Racing by the time I was here so I managed to play against him when he was coaching at Racing.
“I’m an ex-All Black, I come from that kind of winning mentality background.
"I came in as a player but when you’re a player you can only do so much.
"But a coach can outline what it looks like, how to get there. It’s all of a sudden a complete kind of plan."
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