IT’S GOING TO be a long, difficult summer for the Leinster players involved in Saturday’s stunning Champions Cup final in Dublin.
To lead a final on home soil 17-0 after just 12 minutes and leave empty handed will leave its own scars. The fact that it was La Rochelle, again, who broke Leinster hearts will provide further psychological baggage – Ronan O’Gara admitted to using Leinster’s recent pain in this competition as fuel for his own players during his half-time address.
For two years running, the French side have chipped away at Leinster before landing a killer blow. Yet this was different to the three-point loss in Marseille 12 months ago. For a brief period, Leinster were at their scintillating best as they raced into a three-try lead, with their accuracy devastating and their physicality ferocious.
Yet in the second half they seized up, a series of exceptional defensive stands followed by nervy, pressurised exits which kept Leinster pinned in their own half. When it mattered most, Leo Cullen’s side couldn’t find the control and composure necessary to finish the job.
And unlike Marseille, in the end it was Leinster camped on the La Rochelle line, only this time there was no late twist. Leinster’s last score of the game came in the 46th minute. From that point, they barely fired a shot and throughout an enthralling second period, there was a palpable sense of inevitability about La Rochelle, who in contrast looked typically confident in their ability to turn the contest on its head – a team that had been here, done it before, and were ready to do it again.
Ronan O’Gara’s back-to-back champions are an exceptional side and for Leinster, the French side’s remarkable rise has come at just the wrong time. The province have played some dazzling rugby across the last two European seasons but in both finals, La Rochelle have emerged as worthy champions.
“It’s two totally different games (this year and last year), aren’t they?” said Cullen.
“The game is multi-faceted, there’s a physical component, there’s technical, tactical, and then there’s the mental side of the game as well so yeah, it’s making sure you’re working on all of the parts of our game.
It’s so fine, the margins. The guys, they want it so bad, they want it really badly, so maybe that relaxing, composure part, it feeds into that to a certain extent but I wouldn’t fault the guys in any shape or form.”
The statistics had Leinster making 183 tackles to La Rochelle’s 73, with O’Gara’s team registering 120 carries to Leinster’s 69. La Rochelle enjoyed 58% of the possession and 59% of the territory as they put the squeeze on Leinster in an engrossing second half, waiting for their hosts to crack.
Leinster centre Garry Ringrose admitted that as the tension rose and their energy waned, the province just weren’t able to handle La Rochelle’s relentless pressure.
“Just to reiterate what Leo said, just in terms of the finest margins in maybe how we exited, a couple of turnovers where lads are on the ball, pulling it up and on another day it could have been a penalty and you can relieve pressure that way,” Ringrose said.
“But we struggled just to relieve pressure and then we got our opportunity to try and score a try at the end and didn’t take it. So it was tough because we’re taking pressure and we did well at times to relieve it a bit but it was just that last bit and fine margins in a couple of instances. Yeah, we didn’t quite nail it or it went against us.
It came down to a point at the end of the day and maybe if one or two moments had gone differently, a different result and you look at the game through a different lens but unfortunately that’s not the case.”
Fine margins, but it will be difficult for Leinster to pick themselves up from such a shattering defeat.
Bar the absence of Johnny Sexton, Leinster took to the field with a full-strength side. The selection of Dan Sheehan over Rónan Kelleher was the only other change from the team that started the 2022 final.
They’re not going to rip up the blueprint but next season will usher in a new era for Leinster as two of the most influential voices in the setup head for the exit, with Sexton retiring and Stuart Lancaster swapping Dublin for Paris.
All the while, the competition around them intensifies. Cullen reiterated his belief that Leinster’s model can bring them back to the promised land, as the dream of that fifth European star ends for another year.
“Absolutely. The quality of people, that’s the biggest piece for me and there’s some bloody good young players coming through as well and we need to do everything we can to support them. But I’d have a lot of confidence,” Cullen added.
“Like the experience guys get. Like Garry beside me here, the experience makes you stronger, it’ll make you stronger over time. There’s other guys within the team as well, you know, young guys, still in their 20s that are just accumulating that experience all the time.
“I understand how hard it is, making sure you have that constant focus in terms of the habits we deliver day to day and when you get to this big stage that you’re able to nail those opportunities.
“But it’s hard. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not like you just turn up and someone’s going to hand it to you. It’s going to be hard but that’s the challenge isn’t it, putting yourself in that situation again.
“But it’s not easy. It’s going to be a challenge but I think our guys, it’s a really good crop of players there, they just keep having to believe in themselves.”
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