Losing hurts but narrow margins render the pain more acute because the focus that seeps into the post-match analysis invariably highlights a decision here, a bounce of the ball there.
Going into the Champions Cup final Leinster needed to be perfect and for La Rochelle to be a little off-colour and that’s how it transpired in that opening deluge of points for the home side. But thereafter the game belonged to the French club except for a five-minute flurry at the end. The gap between the teams in performance terms seemed greater than a single point.
Leinster have been standard bearers in terms of the Irish provinces since their breakthrough Heineken Cup success in 2009 and from that triumph to the present day have contested six further Champions Cup finals, winning three and losing the same number. Using that same starting point they won a Challenge Cup, six United Rugby Championship (URC) titles and were runners-up on four other occasions.
There is a tendency to focus on Leinster’s missteps but it’s a substantial haul of silverware and perhaps expectation has overtaken a realistic appraisal of where they are in a European context, particularly when weighed against the rosters of the big French Top 14 clubs.
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Leinster’s production line is rightly celebrated but no club can be self-sufficient, players who come in from other shores add considerably to rugby and the culture. The limit of three non-Irish qualified players places a huge emphasis on getting those signings right. Isa Nacewa, Rocky Elsom, Brad Thorn, Nathan Hines and Scott Fardy, to highlight a few, contributed handsomely to Leinster success.
Leo Cullen, with the help of Jacques Nienaber, Andrew Goodman, Robin McBryde and Seán O’Brien, will have to rebuild from within on the basis that there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of outside recruitment.
That’s a sizeable hurdle when considering that every French Top 14 club will welcome new faces for next season. Leinster are losing several players including their talismanic outhalf, playmaker and captain Johnny Sexton. There are holes in the roster when judged against the very highest level in Europe.
La Rochelle’s superior bench, facilitated by a 6-2 split, allowed them to refresh the pack on a regular basis, thereby maintaining energy and momentum. In contrast, Ryan Baird replacing Jack Conan and Rónan Kelleher coming on for Dan Sheehan were Leinster’s only proactive tactical changes. Giving away 10 kgs a man and making three times as many tackles were always going to demand a physical tariff.
Leinster led 23-7 at 37 minutes but the cracks had already begun to show, and they widened under pressure. Sheehan’s ill-judged offload ultimately gave La Rochelle possession, territorial position from which they ultimately grabbed a second try just before the interval.
In the second half Leinster failed to generate any quality ball, their plight getting steadily worse on foot of a deteriorating set piece and a flawed game management and kicking strategy. Jamison Gibson-Park’s impact on the game reduced as he tired, Ross Byrne, or anyone else for that matter, failed to pick up the slack and there was nothing forthcoming from the bench.
I think James Ryan left a large hole as well, both in the pack and as a captain. In close games like this, sometimes you ask a player to say or do the right thing. He looked like he was doing both.
Leinster will co-ordinate a rebuilding phase as they have done several times in the professional era. In 2015 I left Leinster, technically on standby for the World Cup, but after a brief chat with Leo, we both left that room with the happy understanding that my career had finished.
As the rugby sun set for me one of the important things that happened at that time in Leinster was a requirement to examine the values and culture that had been handed down by the previous generation to establish if it still represented them as individuals and as an organisation. It was clear that it didn’t. Luke McGrath, Rhys Ruddock, Rob Kearney, Cian Healy and Johnny Sexton recalibrated the collective mindset.
The words written large on the gym wall in UCD about behaviour and values was a daily challenge, a reminder of what the club stands for and what is expected of those that wear the jersey: culture matters and those teams that have strong ones tend to be successful.
There are always outliers like Man City or Toulon, that although they pump in vast quantities of money must still win matches. Toulon, their recent European Challenge Cup success notwithstanding, have enjoyed a modest level of success since they stopped chasing the world’s elite players that saw them rule in Europe for three years.
Toulouse, Wasps, Leicester Tigers and Munster all possessed exemplary playing cultures during the respective European successes and Leinster joined that club from 2009. Saracens and now La Rochelle have proved a nemesis for Cullen’s team in recent times and it’s not just down to having sizeable budgets with more scope for recruitment.
The two clubs have comparative playing culture on and off the pitch to rival that of Leinster. Saracens are favourites to win the Gallaher Premiership having been runners-up last season. Owen Farrell has been a superb driving force on the pitch and there is little doubt that there is a strong bond among the players. You cannot fake that for any length of time.
La Rochelle have put a huge amount of focus on the person behind the player, started by Jono Gibbes and continued by Ronan O’Gara. They have recruited very well both in terms of the French market and internationally.
Leinster have never had a right to success, they had to work for it just like every team and this latest loss will hurt but no more or less than others than have gone before. It probably does draw a line in the sand based on Sexton’s departure. He was a leader and a strong character, and it is now up to others to drive standards.
Ryan’s performance last Saturday prior to his unfortunate departure marked him as a worthy successor. There are a lot of young players who must prove they are good enough to fill a Leinster jersey and they must understand what that means, not simply be good enough to play URC but to stand out and stand up in Europe.
On Saturday they looked one or two players short of getting this match over the line. The challenge is how they fill those gaps because if they don’t next season is unlikely to bring a happier conclusion in the quest for silverware.
