LA ROCHELLE CAPTAIN Grégory Alldritt claimed that Leinster didn’t show his side respect before the Champions Cup final, which ended in a dramatic 27-26 win for the French team.
Leinster’s hearts were broken by La Rochelle in the final for the second season in a row and Alldritt felt a perceived lack of respect ahead of the game in Dublin.
France number eight Alldritt claimed that Leinster captain James Ryan didn’t look him in the eye when they shook hands after the pre-game coin toss, although an image from Inpho Photography appears to show that Ryan did make eye contact with Alldritt.
“There were several moments,” said Alldritt after being asked when he felt the final swinging in his side’s favour.
“From the toss, already, we were not respected. He didn’t look me in the eye when he shook my hand. And that should not be done. There are a lot of values in our club and respect is part of it.
“At 17-0, we managed to reverse the trend and switch at half-time to 23-14. The dynamic was for us.”
La Rochelle boss O’Gara backed his captain up when he was asked if Leinster had disrespected the Top 14 side.
“Yeah, I got word of it down on the pitch,” said O’Gara.
“Obviously, I have a close relationship with my captain. A bizarre action when they were going for the toss.
“Normally you engage eyes and no eyes were engaged. Greg was disappointed and let down. There was a little bit of that in terms of… obviously Leinster were the home team in terms of accommodation for the families, post-match gigs.
“I think we’re in Lansdowne [Rugby Club, next door to the Aviva Stadium], we couldn’t get a room in this place. It’s disappointing on that front but we’ve got to accept that we’re seen as the little team, but that’s about to change.”
EPCR has clarified that Leinster were not in charge of organising the post-match function room and said that EPCR had offered La Rochelle a post-match space in the Aviva Stadium but were told it wasn’t big enough for their group. EPCR said that the Aviva Stadium was a neutral venue for the final.
Leinster confirmed that they are holding their post-match function at the RDS.
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