Ronan O'Gara smiled as he insisted he wasn't playing mind games by way of wearing a red hoodie to La Rochelle's Champions Cup final Captain's Run this afternoon.
Munster legend O'Gara was box office at the Aviva Stadium as he gave his thoughts on a third meeting with Leinster at the business end of the competition in as many seasons.
But first...why the red top?
READ MORE: Leinster ready to 'do business' with Tadhg Furlong fit for Champions Cup final
"I had three choices," he laughed. "Green, red and turquoise. Turquoise is in the wash and green is for tomorrow!".
After beating the Blues in the 2021 semi-final in La Rochelle and the 2022 decider in Marseille, he believes Les Maritimes will have to be better again to beat Leinster in what is essentially a home game for Leo Cullen's side - a side that boasts 14 Grand Slam winners from earlier this year.
"We're going in there tomorrow and we'll either grow or shrink," said O'Gara.
"What I've seen from my boys is they love it, they care for each other, they've prepared all season for this game and it's to be attacked rather than be feared.
"As a player I would have been damn nervous, as a coach I'm extremely excited about it. Where else do you want to be? It's a Heineken Cup final in Dublin and we're ready to go.
"This is a good group leadership group with huge ambition. We’re going to get better and there is a big appetite.
"We're lucky with our club that we have a good president and CEO that are aligned in the vision where want to go to.
In the French club game or any club game you can either survive or you can thrive, we want to thrive.
"I push them, they don’t know their limit. Tomorrow could be another big day for club because if we play like we did against Exeter (in the semi-final), we’re a tough team."
Of course, O'Gara is on familiar territory, even if he expects a hostile atmosphere. He won a Champions Cup semi-final on Lansdowne Road in 2006 - against Leinster, remember - and played almost 50 times for Ireland at the same ground.
The Corkman said: "It’s a home game for me too, you forget.
"I have such great memories in this stadium, the minute I walked through, I was like, 'I can’t believe I'm here'.
"You're in a bit of a time warp because you’re focused, but when you stand back from it, it will be a fantastic occasion and there's a lot to be proud of but now is not the moment to be reflective. It's time to drive on, get the best out of our players.
"There has to be disbelief at the final whistle last year. In my head, there were days driving home going, ‘Where are we going with this?' Coaching is lonely, it's tough, you question a lot and then you get a return like that in Marseille.
"The first 60 minutes are, 'Did this happen?' When you try to piece it together, there's disbelief. These guys, their wishlist had a Bouclier first but now that they've captured Europe, they've got a taste for it and they love it.
"We want to go again. No one's talking about a Top 14 semi-final because it doesn’t matter, all that matters is tomorrow.
"This group, we’re good. We have probably learned from two finals and we don’t want that taste of what happened in year one in the journey. We want to kick on."
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