Leinster are staring into the eyes of a rugby monster that could inflict the unbearable pain of repeat Champions Cup final defeats.
Ronan O’Gara has created a La Rochelle team that is so powerful that it has almost zero weaknesses. As he leads La Rochelle into their third consecutive final, O’Gara deserves huge plaudits for evolving his club into the best team in Europe.
La Rochelle’s current form is awesome. They lead the Top 14 in points scored and have the best defensive record in France. Crucially, through their exceptionally precise technical coaching, they are the most potent club team in the world at the breakdown.
In last year’s final it was [Ronan] O’Gara’s masterful tactics that forced Leinster to make 288 tackles while his team made a minuscule 88
There is no doubt that the two best teams in Europe have reached the decider and while the margins between these clubs remain tight, it is La Rochelle who are on target to get a second star on their chest.
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In last year’s final it was O’Gara’s masterful tactics that forced Leinster to make 288 tackles while his team made a minuscule 88. La Rochelle denied Leinster’s attacking machine possession to such an extent that they failed to score a try in Marseille.
Tactics that Munster emulated last weekend in their triumph at the Aviva.
These tactics worked because Leinster are the master of playing a superior brand of attacking-game speed. In layman’s terms, Leinster attack at an exceptionally high tempo with lightning-fast rucks, created by huge physical intensity, without compromising their technique, tactics or decision-making.
All of which makes their attacking machine simply brilliant.
To counter this, La Rochelle simply denied Leinster possession so they could not lift the game speed to levels that would have damaged La Rochelle’s defence.
Les Maritimes ferociously and incessantly ripped into Leinster at the breakdown, stifling attempts to lift the attacking tempo, while their defensive line speed, especially on scrums and lineouts, was astonishingly fast and snuffed out Leinster’s renowned set-play attack.
Having replaced Ihaia West at outhalf with the more reliable goal-kicking of Antoine Hastoy, La Rochelle are a more complete team in 2023 than they were last season.
In Leinster’s favour, having the final in Dublin is a huge plus because last year’s venue in southern France gave an immense advance to the French team. Last May, the number of La Rochelle supporters was so great they flooded the avenues outside the Velodrome and were a major factor in their team’s success. Factor in the spring heat in southern France and the iconic French stadium became a hot and hostile venue for the Irish.
The rugby world is also aware that La Rochelle are no longer a Cinderella story. They are a club with massive resources full of high-quality overseas and French international players. After three seasons of consistent quality performances, the glass slipper tag is smashed. Leinster, a team packed with local homegrown talent, are the underdogs.
On Saturday as La Rochelle walk on to an Aviva pitch they will enter a heaving mass of blue as the defending champions, favourites and the enemy. That environment creates a totally different mindset for both sides.
Last year, Leinster’s mindset was to get another star on their jersey. La Rochelle came into the game transfixed on being present in every moment. Leinster must focus on the process and not the outcome.
That process is to constantly give La Rochelle what they do not want. Leinster must channel some Joe Schmidt thinking and go to the air to attack the space behind the sprinting La Rochelle defensive line. A strong kicking game from Ross Byrne will force the giant opposition pack to stop, turn and run back in support.
The aim is to deny the highly effective La Rochelle tactics at the breakdown of an entry point into the game.
La Rochelle have no defensive weaknesses, so when Leinster run the ball they have to be tactically accurate. The place where the French have the least defensive power is the blindside. Leinster must constantly change the point of attack, hitting La Rochelle’s blindside where they are least comfortable.
The essence of this match will be won or lost at the breakdown. As La Rochelle are the best club team in the world in this area, Leinster will have to be beyond brave to find a way to achieve parity in the race for space at the tackle. Their support to the ball carrier must be faster, lower and more effective than they were in last year’s final.
Leinster must simply grab the few crumbs of opportunity that La Rochelle will throw their way. One of these rare windows will provide a chance for them to score a try
On their own patch of dirt in front of their families, friends and community, every Leinster action must be dripping with positive body language, energy, enthusiasm and buckets more aggression than La Rochelle.
This enthusiasm — and the noise from the blue supporters, who will play a pivotal role in the outcome — must sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of the opposition, because that is exactly what the Rochelais did to Leinster at the Velodrome last year.
Then Leinster must simply grab the few crumbs of opportunity that La Rochelle will throw their way. One of these rare windows will provide a chance for them to score a try, seize the momentum and apply scoreboard pressure on the French.
As Napoleon said, there is a moment in conflict that has an impact like no other; the one drop of water that makes the cup run over.
Leinster will have to fight harder than at any point in their history to find that trophy-winning drop.
