WITHIN 30 SECONDS of kick off, Will Connors was up to his usual antics.
La Rochelle tighthead Uini Atonio carried, Connors chopped. His low tackling is his trademark and Leinster backed the 27-year-old to make an impact against a team whose momentum they have struggled to slow at times over the past three years.
Those three painful defeats in the Champions Cup had involved the likes of Will Skelton and Atonio making big, rumbling carries that brought La Rochelle over the gainline and allowed their skillful, smart backs to do more damage.
The conditions in La Rochelle yesterday meant it was always going to be difficult for both attacks, but Leinster also did a better job of limiting the French side’s chances of building up a head of steam.
Connors, who was credited with 10 tackles in the immediate post-match stats, was a key figure in that gritty defensive effort. His tackling is great to watch, just as much as any offload or sidestep or long pass. Connors’ ability to get low and punch aggressively into tackles with a tight wrap of the arms, as legal as it is brutally effective, has been honed by hours of practice.
This is a man who is currently doing a PhD that focuses on optimising tackle technique to make rugby safer. Connors has been using computer science to undertake this project, but anyone keen to learn about effective tackling could study him.
“He added plenty of chop tackles anyway,” said Leinster boss Leo Cullen after his side’s 16-9 win. “I think some of their bigger guys were wondering where their legs had gone. That’s what he gives you – he’s unbelievably brave, Will.
“He gets off the line and takes guys’ legs and it’s bloody hard to keep carrying if you’ve got no legs. He was really good in that regard and then Josh when he came on adds real impact, a couple of big moments he came up with.”
Second row James Ryan was top of the tackle charts for Leinster against La Rochelle with 18, including one important effort early in the second half to hold Levani Botia up over the tryline. That was leading by example from the co-captain.
Connors got through lots of work on the defensive side of the game as he played 49 minutes on what was, remarkably, only his second appearance in the Champions Cup. He debuted in this competition against Saracens back in 2020 at a time when he was on the rise.
That rise took Connors to nine Ireland caps as he pushed past Josh van der Flier, who has since admitted that Connors’ excellence motivated him to push his own game to a new level, taking him all the way to a World Rugby player of the year award.
Since that excellent 2020/21 season, Connors has been deeply unlucky with injuries. He’s probably sick of everyone’s sympathy at this stage and it’s days like this one that allow that cruel spell to be put well into the rearview mirror.
While Connors will have seen bits he can improve on, this performance was a reminder of his ability to stand out at the highest level. Andy Farrell was a big fan of Connors at the start of his Ireland reign and can’t have been anything but impressed with his display against a big La Rochelle team.
Leinster’s plan to have Connors lead the defensive assault before being replaced by van der Flier worked out well in this victory. The latter provided some important impacts, none more so than the final breakdown turnover that allowed Ciarán Frawley to blast over a 60-metre penalty to seal the deal.
While Frawley’s entry into the game was forced on Leinster just before half time when Harry Byrne suffered an injury, that pair also did an excellent job for Leinster.
Byrne was impressive for 39 minutes on his first Champions Cup start, with his handling as strong as ever. He played a lovely pass to Jimmy O’Brien for Leinster’s try in the first half, subtly delaying his delivery to ensure he dragged in a defender before releasing the ball.
While he was frustrated to kick one ball dead, there were some lovely touches with the boot too, particularly his delightful banana kick that was very close to being a 50:22. It was tough for Byrne to suffer another injury in a career that has been held back by a few issues in that regard. Frawley came on to show his composure.
Leinster’s use of Charlie Ngatai off the bench was smart too. He was sent into the fray nice and early in the 56th minute. The physical battle was one he looked suited to. While it meant that Garry Ringrose had to shift to the wing as try-scorer Jordan Larmour was replaced, having three centres on the pitch on a day like this one made sense.
Ngatai got stuck in with a couple of tackles and one particularly important midfield bust that resulted in Leinster kicking three points.
Cian Healy had a short stint off the bench to cover Andrew Porter’s blood injury, while Rónan Kelleher did the last quarter as Dan Sheehan’s replacement at hooker. Jason Jenkins only got six minutes but Ryan and Joe McCarthy, who had a 10-minute break in the sin bin, were going well.
There weren’t Champions Cup debuts for Ben Murphy and Thomas Clarkson but, again, you could understand why Leinster left the far more experienced Michael Ala’alatoa and Jamison Gibson-Park out there to close out a tight game.
