La Rochelle gear up for a showdown with Leinster Rugby in Marseille tomorrow as they look to secure a maiden European title and avoid a second final defeat in two years after they lost out to Stade Toulousain last season.

Alldritt says the memory of that defeat has served as motivation for this season’s hunt for the Heineken Champions Cup trophy.

“Ronan brought us this culture of the [Heineken] Champions Cup,” he explained. “We take a lot of pleasure to play this competition. We want to be part of the best teams in the European Cup.

“We have a second face of the best. Winning the final is the only way to be one of the greats. We have to show that we have the shoulders. I love being in the shoes of the underdog. But I am convinced that we will do it.

“It's going to be very hard, but I felt this week everyone involved, had raised the cursor. We learned a lot last season.

“It was almost a surprise to arrive at Twickenham in the final. Now it's no longer a surprise. Last year, something was taken from us.

“I still have the image of Toulouse lifting the cup in front of us. That's been our motivation throughout the season.

“You have to let go, defend hard, go up hard, keep the ball in attack, multiply the playing time if necessary.”

Veteran lock Romain Sazy, who started in last season’s final but is among the replacements this time around, detailed La Rochelle’s preparations for the game and how they aspire to deliver a trophy for their supporters.

“We mostly focused on ourselves,” he said. “We tried to touch the small details that make the difference. It's never easy to reach the final.

“But for the club, it's fabulous even if it's far from being an end. This club represents a lot of people, the fans, a whole city.

“The support is fabulous. We are keen to mark this date and lift this first trophy for the history of the club.”

The game in Marseille kicks off at 16:45 (UK & Irish time) and will be available to watch on BT Sport, Channel 4, Virgin Media, beIN SPORTS, France 2 and Sky Italia.

Stade Rochelais captain Grégory Alldritt admits that reaching the Heineken Champions Cup final last season was somewhat of a surprise – but his team fully expected to challenge for the title this campaign.