FOR THE SECOND year running, Ronan O’Gara and his team will be taking the Heineken Champions Cup back to La Rochelle and for the second year running, they landed the title with an incredible comeback performance.
In Marseille last year the French side pounced for a last-minute try and this time around, they fell 17-0 down in the opening 12 minutes before dusting themselves down to summon one of the great Champions Cup final performances.
“It was incredibly good because we were on the ropes big time obviously,” O’Gara said.
“We were being steamrolled by a very impressive team. I knew Goody (Andrew Goodman, Leinster attack coach) would have a special one or two sleeve, but I didn’t quite expect it after whatever, 45 seconds, so it was a great play they opened their bag with.
“It was 7-0 within six minutes and then 12-0 and within 11 minutes, it’s 17-0 so you’re not long away from getting hosed, which obviously wasn’t the plan coming here.
“So, we’ve a very interesting culture in our team. It’s changed a lot. The boys really care. I think it was easy to jump ship today. They did the opposite. It was a 23-man effort.
They dug in. They showed serious resolve and I think we’re worthy champions.”
Sitting to O’Gara’s right, La Rochelle captain Grégory Alldritt insisted the group never feared the contest was getting away from them.
“We knew that Leinster were going to start really hard, really quick,” Alldritt said.
“But we said before, even if it’s 20-0 after 20 minutes, and it was 17-0, stick to the strategy and believe in what we’ve been training for through the week. That’s what Saz (Romain Sazy) was saying, when we were under the posts after three Leinster tries there were no worries. We all knew we were going to score.
“But at 17-0 we had two options, either Leinster keep scoring and it’s going to be really difficult game or we score a try and see what happens. Then we go to 17-10 and it’s a different game.”
After a tense second period where Leinster held off wave after wave of La Rochelle’s pressure, the French side moved into the lead when replacement tighthead Georges Henri Colombe crossed after a series of penalties in the corner.
“We scored and then Antoine (Hastoy) kicked a pressure conversion, which is a belting kick but I think there were still eight minutes leff,” O’Gara added.
“It’s a long time in rugby with a one-score game. Leinster bombarded our line and I can’t wait to watch the video of how we kept them out.
“It’s very unfortunate for Michael Ala’alatoa (to get a red card). You’ve got to come in at that pace to shift bodies. Unfortunately, he just got his angle wrong and it’s a head collision and it’s a red card. It’s very disappointing for him because he’s a good guy.
“That was a huge moment for us but you saw the huge composure from us. It’s spectacular for this group. They showed a lot of character.”
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