Leinster v La Rochelle: Champions Cup final preview as Ronan O’Gara’s side set to claim back-to-back titles

Jared Wright
Leinster v La Rochelle Champions Cup Final Aviva Stadium

Here we go again! Leinster and La Rochelle collide in the final of the Champions Cup for the second season in a row as the two sides meet at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Leinster booked their place in the final with a 41-22 victory over Toulouse in the semi-finals, while La Rochelle eased to a 47-28 win over Exeter Chiefs to set up this Dublin showdown.

The pair were amongst the pre-tournament favourites to lift the title, and to date, they have not disappointed, cruising through the pool stages and knockouts.

An epic showdown awaits as Leinster looks to exact revenge for the defeat in Marseille last year and claim a record-equalling fifth star. At the same time, La Rochelle can become only the fourth team to defend their Champions Cup title.

Leinster took the gamble of resting several frontline players for their United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final against Munster last weekend and came undone, falling to a 16-15 defeat to their rivals – meaning this game is Leinster’s last chance to end their two-year trophy drought.

As for La Rochelle, they fell to a 42-31 loss at Montpellier’s hands after they rested most of the players that will be trotting out in yellow on Saturday. The defeat meant little for Ronan O’Gara’s side, as they will still have a home run in the Top 14 play-offs thanks to a comfortable eight-point buffer over third-placed Stade Francais.

This promises to be a clash of nuclear proportions as a desperate Leinster aims to send Johnny Sexton and Stuart Lancaster off in style. Meanwhile, O’Gara’s side looks to reinforce their heavyweight status and add to their remarkable rise from the Pro D2 less than a decade ago.

Team news

James Ryan captains a Leinster side that sees two personnel changes from the team that beat Toulouse in the semi-final, as Robbie Henshaw replaces Charlie Ngatai at inside centre, and James Lowe comes onto the wing, in place of Jordan Larmour.

Hugo Keenan starts at full-back, with Jimmy O’Brien and Lowe in the back three.

Garry Ringrose and Henshaw are named in the centre, with Ross Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park partnering in the half-backs.

The pack remains unchanged from that semi-final win, with Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong in the front-row, as Ross Molony and Ryan form the second-row.

Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan complete the pack.

For La Rochelle, all their big guns return after sitting out last week’s Top 14 loss, with the likes of Will Skelton, Levani Botia, Gregory Alldritt, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Brice Dulin starting.

Jonathan Danty continues his comeback from injury and lines up in an exciting midfield alongside UJ Seuteni while Dillyn Leyds and Raymond Rhule are on the wings.

Where the game will be won

There is no doubt that this will be a hotly contested clash in every single facet, passage and phase of the game. Each little battle can swing momentum and go a long way to deciding the match, but without a doubt, the forwards will win or lose this final.

Last season and, to a degree, this campaign, much has been made of La Rochelle’s gargantuan pack, but the Irish side stepped up to the task 12 months ago and are bound to do the same again this time. It’s not just simply the battle for gain line success as the set-piece and breakdown contest will be even more paramount.

Leinster have thrived when bossing possession this season. Last weekend, Munster proved that forcing Leinster to defend goes a long way to defeating them, but the semi-final also showed just how difficult they are to break down, with Graham Rowntree’s side scoring just one try. Leo Cullen’s charges make the most of their opportunities when they have quick and accurate rucks. Still, they front up against a mammoth task of achieving that with breakdown experts Alldritt and Botia in the French side’s ranks. The same applies to La Rochelle with Leinster’s breakdown threats, including Van der Flier, Sheehan, Doris and others.

Any quarter given at scrum time will be exploited and could be crucial in a game set to go down to the wire, while the lineout will also go a long way in deciding the match. Whether it is a rolling maul or an intricate set move, both sides make the most of their attacking opportunities from the lineout, and there will be a monumental focus on disrupting the opposition’s access to the ball.

What they said

Leinster coach Lancaster commented on the challenge his side face against the star-studded La Rochelle team.

“They’re obviously competitive on both sides of the ball in that defensively, they’re very strong,” he told the Irish Independent.

“They’ll get aggressive line-speed, be competitive at the breakdown and in attack, they have the capacity, because of the size of the forwards, to play a tight game but also a game with width, because they have power and pace in the backline.

“If you were going to pick your dream backline to recruit, you’d have power, pace and footballers, and La Rochelle have all three.”

Meanwhile, La Rochelle boss O’Gara is expecting a different Leinster side than the one that lost to Munster in the URC semi-final.

“Obviously, Leinster will be disappointed by that, but their focus has been on winning in Europe and they’ve made their plan that that was the team they were going for,” O’Gara said.

“Last weekend there were 12 Leinster internationals in the stands for the game against Munster. Munster won, but it wasn’t against Leinster’s strongest side. It was like for us in Montpellier. It will be a completely different team.

“We’re expecting the best version of Leinster and the best version of them is a formidable task. We know how difficult it is going to be, but we want to test ourselves against the best.”

Last time they met

Players to watch

We could quite easily list all 46 players, but the first name that pops up is the in-form number eight, Caelan Doris. The Ireland star has been nothing short of box office for the Dubliners this season, featuring brilliantly on both sides of the ball and leading the way for try assists (five) and turnovers (six) for the men in blue in the Champions Cup.

Leinster prop Andrew Porter deserved his break after going deep into matches for province and country over the past 12 months but he will be out to hit the ground running with another big performance awaiting him. He has the arduous task of going head-to-head with Uini Atonio in the scrum and will be a crucial asset for Leinster in winning the pack battle in all areas of the game.

With Ireland captain Sexton injured, the final gives Ross Byrne another chance to prove his class further and steer his side to victory. The pivot has got Leinster to this point, trailing Antoine Hastoy in the scoring charts in the competition, and he will look to cap it all off with a title-winning performance.

Few players can switch between the pack and backs, but there are even fewer that make it look seamless and are as dominant as Levani Botia is. The Fijian superstar has been outstanding since making the near-permanent shift onto the side of the scrum and is now one of the best players over the ball in world rugby. His breakdown brilliance has not impacted his bulking ball carries and outrageous skills in possession.

La Rochelle captain Grégory Alldritt has not only led his side to the final but has been one of the side’s best players throughout the tournament. He has made the most carries this season with 112 from his seven matches and has gained 308 metres from those carries, the second most by a La Rochelle player. He also leads the way in defenders beaten, defensive rucks hit, turnovers, offloads and tackles. Simply put, he has been all-action all of the time.

In our final pick of players to watch is one that will be almost impossible to miss in the gigantic frame of Jonathan Danty. While the abrasive inside centre has struggled with injuries this season, he has been near-impossible to contain when he has been on the pitch. At times, he is a fourth back-rower for his side with his ability to pilfer for the ball, but he still has all the classic skill sets of a centre, and with Seuteni on his outside, Leinster will need to be sharp throughout.

Main head-to-head

Like with the players to watch, every single head-to-head is just as mouth-watering as the next, but the one that excites us the most is the clash between the scrum-halves, Jamison Gibson-Park and Tawera Kerr-Barlow. We were denied this head-to-head last season when Kerr-Barlow sustained an injury, but we are in luck this time.

Both players are at the heart of their respective attacks, keeping up the tempo and making sure their up and unders are contestable. They also have a knack for ripping through the opposition’s defence with well-timed snipes and finishing off opportunities with their support lines.

The pair are amongst the best number nines in the game, and this is a fantastic chance to see them give it their all in a winner-takes-all clash.

Prediction

It’s never going to be easy to call such a close game between two evenly matched world-class teams. As it did last year, this may well come down to a match-winning score in the dying embers of the contest. Last year it was La Rochelle, and unfortunately for Leinster, we are backing O’Gara’s side to do it again, claiming a two-point victory.

Previous results

2022: La Rochelle won 21-24 at Stade Velodrome
2021: La Rochelle won 32-23 at Stade Marcel Deflandre

The teams

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Charlie Ngatai

La Rochelle: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 UJ Seuteni, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Levani Botia, 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Reda Wardi
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq Brettes, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Georges Henri Colombe, 19 Thomas Lavault, 20 Remi Bourdeau, 21 Ultan Dillane, 22 Thomas Berjon, 23 Jules Favre

Date: Saturday, May 20
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 16:45 local (15:45 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson and Christophe Ridley (both England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)

READ MORE: Champions Cup: A closer look at Leinster and La Rochelle’s budding rivalry

Champions Cup Leo Cullen Levani Botia Ronan O'Gara

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