Leinster v La Rochelle: Five takeaways as ‘banger of an occasion’ produces ‘harum-scarum moments’ and an ‘epic finish’
Harry Byrne celebrates after kicking the Leinster winner ahainst Gregory Alldritt's La Rochelle
Following a last-gasp 25-24 win for Leinster against La Rochelle in their Investec Champions Cup fixture, here’s our five takeaways from the Pool 3 match at Aviva Stadium.
The top line
Leinster’s drive towards a fifth Champions Cup title continues after a terrific victory at the death over fierce rivals La Rochelle in a Dublin classic.
Buoyed by the raucous atmosphere they walked out to, Leo Cullen’s side stepped on the accelerator from the moment referee Matthew Carley had his arm out signalling a penalty advantage 30 seconds in. Tommy O’Brien blitzed his way through the cover, an attack that ended with Josh Kenny nearly getting in at the corner.
It was a warning that La Rochelle didn’t heed as the same duo were pivotally involved again a couple of minutes later, this time with Kenny having enough space to make it to the line for the opening score.
Kenny was celebrating once more in the ninth minute, feasting on the loose ball that stemmed from Rieko Ioane charging down an Ihaia West clearance kick.
A yellow card to O’Brien for a deliberate knock-on and a game-ending injury to Ciaran Frawley hinted at a La Rochelle response, but it was Leinster who instead were momentarily celebrating on 17 minutes in the mistaken belief Dan Sheehan had scored. A knock-on was the verdict.
Twelve minutes later, La Rochelle did get on the board, Davit Niniashvili diving in at the corner and Nolann le Garrec expertly converting from the touchline to cut the 12-point gap to five.
Despite the carding of Joe McCarthy, that was how it stayed for the remainder of the half and it continued that way until the 55th minute of the second, mainly due to Reda Wardi’s hands letting him down with the Leinster line at his mercy.
It was a straightforward Le Garrec penalty kick that cut the deficit to two points, and the scrum-half then added the extras to West’s try to secure a 17-12 lead with just over 20 minutes remaining.
What a potboiler this had now become, and it got even better with the electric run that Josh van der Flier produced for his score-levelling, unconverted try on 67 minutes.
Less than three minutes later, Robbie Henshaw was celebrating in the same corner to give Leinster a 22-17 lead – and their four-try bonus point – after another well-timed Jack Conan assist.
However, the decisive twist was yet to happen… and it wasn’t West racing in and Le Garrec converting for a 24-22 La Rochelle lead. Instead, the win-sealing score was down the other end, a clock-in-the-red penalty that sub Harry Byrne landed. Epic match. Epic finish.
Vibrant reminder of what Champions Cup is
The Champions Cup has had its reputation sorely dented in recent years by the negativity surrounding the current format caused by the dilution of the quality produced in the pool stages.
Whereas before, teams needed to win a minimum of four from six matches to bag one of the elusive eight quarter-final spots, that pressure has been alleviated by the daft situation where 16 of the 24 teams now progress to a round of 16.
There are undeniably too many teams now involved in the tournament, but this Dublin dust-up was genuine nourishment for a lapsed soul on this season’s road to Bilbao. A bumper crowd, a thumping atmosphere, a visiting team that came to fight… literally, as was witnessed in two outbreaks of first-half handbags.
It added up to a banger of an occasion where the atmosphere was lit and the mood of those in attendance, including a visible contingent from France, ebbed and flowed depending on whichever way the action unfolded.
For instance, the eruption of noise that greeted Wardi’s handling mishap was huge and then came the denouement, that deafening celebration of the decisive Byrne kick.
All in all, it was a vibrant reminder that this tournament can still warm the heart in the European winter despite its bloated, unwieldy format.
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Let’s talk about Sam
Leinster had reeled off seven wins in a row coming into this, but no one in their right mind would have dared to argue that they were back on song, back on top of their game the way we know them.
They had lurched from one game to the next through the winter, performing in fits and starts and fuelling concerns about their leading players, leaving Ireland boss Andy Farrell anxious with the countdown firmly on towards the start of the 2026 Six Nations.
Twenty-six days out from the championship opener away to France, Irish fans will still be left split about the claim Sam Prendergast has on the No.10 Test shirt after this Champions Cup match.
Allow him to attack and he will flourish, as was seen in the way Leinster negotiated the opening part of this game with a lung-bursting start. His kick into space that lit the fuse for the try-creating Ioane block was a rich example of someone at ease playing with his head up, as was his pop pass in the move for the second-half Van der Flier try.
Prendergast, though, was also at the core of the La Rochelle riposte. Criticism about the ineffectiveness of his tackling is nothing new, but there were too many harum-scarum moments here.
Look at how he was left for dead when the visitors carried hard from their 22 midway through the opening half; then see how he was too easily rounded by Antoine Hastoy in the creation of the Naniashvili score. The second half also began with him failing to lay a finger on the galloping Levani Botia, which nearly cost a try.
He did get an ankle tap tackle on Will Skelton to delay the West score on 59 minutes, but he was well beaten when West levelled it up at 22-all.
Jamison Gibson-Park also felt the pressure defensively, with missed tackles also mounting up on his watch. Yes, Leinster ultimately won, but is Prendergast/Gibson-Park the partnership to give Ireland the defensive security they will need at Stade de France on February 5? You couldn’t bet the house on Prendergast starting, so the defensive risk versus attacking reward debate in the run-up will be intriguing.
Looking elsewhere, Farrell will be thrilled by the work rate of the Leinster back row, the chutzpah of McCarthy, the frequent involvement of Henshaw and the unhindered running of O’Brien. Sheehan, though, had another clunky night.
Dublin return of card-trick Carley
It’s getting tedious having to reference referees in these takeaway summations from matches this winter but there was no way that man-in-charge Carley could go unnoticed here. It was 49 days ago when he previously ran out at Aviva Stadium, unleashing a one red/four yellow card trick on a bemused and out-scrummed Ireland versus South Africa.
He was in the crosshairs again here, with Leinster reaching the break having conceded 10 penalties to four and also giving up two yellow cards. Thing is, however, you couldn’t get angsty with the ref for this level of repeat infringement as indiscipline has been a hallmark of Leinster’s stuttering season.
Last weekend in the United Rugby Championship, they ended the first half two points up despite the concession of 11 penalties to four versus Connacht. An enforced ref change at the break helped to rectify that situation and they went on to become runaway winners, but the hale and hearty Carley returned here for the second half.
With it, though, came a visibly huge improvement from Leinster in their discipline and home fans were ultimately left delighted by the ref’s final decision, the penalising of an off feet tackle from Louis Penverne to allow Byrne his kick to win. Whatever the Leinster supporters had negatively said before about Carley was now suddenly forgotten… the ref got the major decision correct at the very end.
The imports
The kryptonite that is gigantic lock Skelton whenever he plays Leinster was to the fore for La Rochelle, exhibiting why clubs spend the biggest bucks on the biggest signings.
The Australian has an enviable CV in this tournament, helping Saracens and La Rochelle to Champions Cup glory against Leinster and he was great value again in Dublin on Saturday night, breathing fire into a French side that had been brittle on the road this season, winning just once in seven before arriving in Ireland.
He blasted his way through 68 minutes here but was looking on from the sideline with the result going down to the wire. Was he missed in the final salvos? For sure, he was. He really needed to be an 80-minute presence in this type of inches battle.
Also missed was the similarly replaced Botia. Having stalked Leinster all evening, the Fijian menace who another absent at the finish and it was costly.
In contrast, Leinster’s current biggest import, All Blacks midfielder Ioane, was around for the duration and he produced his best effort yet, even if he is still a good few notches below his very, very best.
His try-creating charge down was invaluable in a match where the teams were split by just a single point at the finish, so he deserves kudos for that, but his involvement still isn’t what it can and should be.
Wrapping things up, La Rochelle midfielder Simeli Daunivucu merits great praise for his brash display, as does inexperienced Leinster loosehead Jerry Cahir, who arrived on two minutes into the second half for the biggest match of his life. Well played, both youngsters. Their impacts were enthusing to see.