THIS IS THE week Leinster have been working towards all season. Ever since losing to La Rochelle in the semi-final stages of last year’s Heineken Champions Cup, the province have been determined to come back stronger and sharper this time around.
They’ve already gone one step better, having booked their place in this weekend’s Marseille decider with an emphatic win over reigning champions Toulouse. The last hurdle standing in their way is a familiar foe. If Leinster are to capture that fifth European star this weekend, they’ll have to negotiate a way past Ronan O’Gara and his powerful La Rochelle side.
“When you lose a game of that magnitude (last year’s semi-final) you want to learn all the lessons you possibly can from the game and be better next time,” said Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. “There is no guarantee on that.
“It’s a game that haunts many of us, for sure. You want to be better off the back of those haunting experiences, shall we say.”
Leinster were able to rest all of their frontline players for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship win over Munster, while La Rochelle warmed up for the final with an important Top 14 win over Stade Francais. O’Gara made 13 changes to the team that beat Racing in their Champions Cup semi-final, and while an injury to Victor Vito could be a concern, there was a welcome return for powerful second row Will Skelton.
The 30-year-old had been expected to miss the rest of the season with a calf problem but was a late addition to the La Rochelle squad on Saturday, coming on for the final 14 minutes.
“Skelton came back from his season-ending injury, which was interesting!” Cullen said.
“I’ll have a look when I get that game through over the next couple of days and see what tweaks they have in their game.
“It’s an unbelievably exciting challenge. There is always that bit of inside knowledge that they have as a coaching group, with Donnacha Ryan in there as well.
“It’s a great challenge, they are a hugely motivated team, I know, as well. They have a number of players who will be finishing up at the end of this season. Some top-end world-class players. I’m thinking of the likes of Victor Vito in particular, World Cup winner, (Tawara) Kerr-Barlow, obviously another World Cup winner. Whether he plays with his (broken) hand, I don’t know.
“It’s a massive challenge but this is where we want to be. It’s just about delivering one of our better performances.”
Leinster look much more capable of getting over the line this year. Their defence is meaner, their attack more clinical, and crucially, key men Johnny Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park and Caelan Doris are all fit having missed the semi-final last season.
However Skelton’s return represents a major boost for La Rochelle given his track record against the province. The Australian played a key role in that 32-23 win 12 months ago at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre and was also highly influential during Saracens’ Champions Cup final win in 2019.
“There are certain things he does that he is very effective at,” Cullen continued.
“Being aware of them and then trying to come up with a plan ourselves to deal with some of the threats he poses… We have discussed it, so that’s why the comments (on Friday), like, some of the stuff you take with a pinch of salt for that reason.
“We’ll try to be awake for everything as best we possibly can. It’s just trying to prepare well this week to give ourselves the best chance.
“It’s a great stadium, we were down there for a semi-final (v Toulon, 2015) a number of years ago, you may well remember. It was one of those games which potentially changed the course of history, the way that game played out. Hopefully we get a big crowd over there. It’s what makes the European Cup so special.
“I know ROG has such a strong affiliation with this tournament, he will be desperate (to win it). They took a bit of a gamble this week and it paid off for them, in terms of their selection against Stade Francais. That’s a tough choice over there, that was a brave play by him which came off. It signals the intent.
“Two teams who treated the tournament with full on respect from day one this year. You want those teams rewarded to a certain extent and come through.
“I certainly hope it will be a great game. We obviously want to win and we know they are desperate to win as well.”
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