GRUDGE MATCH
Leinster and La Rochelle meet with bad blood spilling over from last year
JOHNNY Sexton’s autobiography is due out in October. The vast majority of books penned by ex players are bargain bin fodder, but the former Leinster and Ireland captain’s memoir should be a page turner.
Sexton was always forthright, engaging and honest — perhaps too honest for his own good at times — in front of the media. It was just the way he was built.
Now that he is retired and away from the game, it will be fascinating to read Sexton’s thoughts on a multitude of incidents throughout his career.
The chapters on Ronan O’Gara and La Rochelle should be interesting. Sexton is sure to lift the lid on what transpired with referee Jaco Peyper following last year’s Champions Cup final. Tunnel-gate might get an airing as well.
He and O’Gara became good mates. Sexton and the former Munster out-half had a choice few words in the corridor of Aviva Stadium on that fateful day, however. It wasn’t the first time. Johnny won’t be holding back in his book.
The hosts should be suitably fired up for this encounter as well. Because Leinster v La Rochelle has been positively box office, on and off the field, in recent years.
Both teams have served up some European classics in recent times. It’s the reason why the Leinster branch were able to sell out the Aviva in less than seven days ahead of this eagerly-anticipated encounter. No one wants to miss this one.
And there will be an extra edge as well, given what transpired at the same venue last season. La Rochelle recovered from a 17-0 first-half deficit to win a thriller 27-26 in the capital. But that was only half the drama which occurred on the day.
We had the aforementioned fracas at the interval involving Sexton, O’Gara and Sean O’Brien, amongst others, outside the referee’s room.
Then there was Sexton’s heated exchange with Peyper, an incident which would result in the injured out-half missing three World Cup warm-up games later in the year due to a suspension.
O’Gara accused the tournament organisers — EPCR — of treating La Rochelle like an away team, citing an inferior post-match function, while the Corkman also took the opportunity to take aim at the Leinster fans who greeted the La Rochelle team bus as it parked up at the stadium. ROG wasn’t too happy about the reception. It fired up his players though. Then there was Gregory Alldritt accusing fellow skipper James Ryan of not making eye contact during the coin toss.
Suffice to say, there is a bit of bad blood spilling over from last year. Both camps have toed the party line all week and stuck to the script but, internally, there will be some choice words.
For Leinster, there is potentially the biggest game of their season. Win this and the entire tournament opens up for them. There will still be quality sides who can derail that charge for the coveted fifth star, but no team has got inside Leinster heads like ROG’s crew. Leo Cullen and Co know they have the manpower, tactics and depth to finish the job at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 25 if they get past their old tormentors this evening.
That first-round pool win at Stade Marcel Deflandre four months ago will give them cause for optimism. That 16-9 win on La Rochelle’s home turf broke a vicious cycle of defeats, a tortuous losing run which began with a Champions Cup semi-final loss in 2021 before a successive defeats in the 2022 and 2023 finals.
Unsurprisingly, Will Connors is back in the fold. Leinster’s choptackling openside was supreme in that game, scything down La Rochelle’s big carriers like Uini Atonio, Will Skelton and Levani Botia with regularity. It’s instructive that this is Connors’ first involvement in Europe since that pool victory against the same opposition way back on a rainy December evening.
There’s a bit of horses for courses about the selection of Jason Jenkins at lock as well. A bit more grunt in the engine room alongside Joe McCarthy, who revels in close-quarter combat. All that heft has consolidated Ryan Baird’s presence on the blindside. All the usual suspects are on board. Garry Ringrose leaves a big void in midfield but Leinster know that if they get their game going, the likes of Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw and Jordan Larmour can cause havoc. And when players begin to tire, Cullen can unload a potent bench featuring Ronan Kelleher, Josh van ver Flier, Jack Conan and Ciaran Frawley.
They know they have the personnel to win this game and win it well. We’ve been down this road plenty of times. When it comes to the clutch moments, Leinster have been found wanting.
The province have left no stone left unturned in finding solutions. After every sobering European failure, they have torn up the script and rebuilt. Game plans have been redesigned while Jacques Nienaber was recruited to add an extra edge to a squad already brimming with talent.
Thing is, it seems to be innate in La Rochelle. They don’t lack star power themselves, but what really sets this squad apart is a sheer bloody mindedness to win.
The visitors are having a middling season on the domestic front but La Rochelle will turn up here. The week-long camp on Leeside will have infused some fresh bitterness in their ranks. No better place to build a siege mentality.
And it may just be enough to seal yet another result tonight.
LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Larmour, R Henshaw, J Osborne, J Lowe; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Jenkins; R Baird, W Connors, C Doris (capt). Reps: R Kelleher, M Milne, M Ala’alatoa, R Molony, J Conan, L McGrath, C Frawley, J van der Flier. LA ROCHELLE: D Leyds; J Nowell, UJ Seuteni, J Danty, T Thomas; A Hastoy, T Kerr-Barlow; L Penverne, T Latu, U Atonio; U Dillane, W Skelton; J Cancoriet, L Botia, G Alldritt (capt). Reps: Q Lespiaucq, A Kaddouri, J Sclavi, T Lavault, P Boudenhent, Y Tanga, T Iribaren, I West. Referee: K Dickson (England). TV: Kick-off at 5.30pm, Aviva Stadium.
on RTE 2 from 5pm.