La Rochelle showdown a fitting final hurdle for Leinster

And so it has come to pass.

Having plotted a route via Leicester and Toulouse for the second season in a row, Leinster will now face a repeat of last May’s Champions Cup final against La Rochelle on Saturday, May 20th at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 4.45pm).

This is the first time in the competition’s 28-year history that the same two teams will meet in the final for the second year running. The tournament organisers will be pleased and privately one ventures that Leinster would have wanted it this way too.

This is because of, rather than despite, Ronan O’Gara’s side beating them 32-23 in the semi-finals in La Rochelle two seasons ago and by 24-21 in the final with the last play of the match in Marseille last May.

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The amalgam of power and flair in La Rochelle’s emphatic 47-28 semi-final victory over Exeter in Bordeaux yesterday will only have reaffirmed the threat which the champions will pose in three weeks’ time. It was the highest points tally ever achieved in a semi-final.

No less than Leo Cullen the day beforehand, O’Gara was not of a mind to “disrespect” Exeter by countenancing a repeat of last year’s final.

“You’ll find it hard to believe but I haven’t thought about it,” he said of meeting Leinster again.

“As you saw today, it was a little bit different. You obviously expect a game with supporters but this – they blew me away. I think we’ll savour that today and tomorrow we’ll make a plan for the future over a few beers.”

Cullen was also more inclined to look ahead to next Saturday’s URC quarter-final against the Sharks at the Aviva Stadium.

“It was an amazing occasion today, the big crowd makes it so special. I know it’s a lot to ask of supporters to dig deep and go again, but it would be amazing to have a big crowd. It’s a nice time, 5 o’clock. Claire will be working overtime in the ticket office. ‘Sexto’ will be helping her out,” he joked.

Similarly, O’Gara’s more immediate concerns are La Rochelle’s forthcoming games away to Toulon and Montpellier in the Top 14, where they sit a point behind Toulouse and six ahead of third-placed Stade Francais.

“The month that Leinster have this month, we’ve ten months of a slog,” said O’Gara.

Leinster’s vivid memories of last season’s final also tempered their post-match mood after Saturday’s 41-22 win over Toulouse when they reached their seventh final.

Time was, as when beating Toulouse at the same juncture and same venue a dozen seasons ago, they celebrated accordingly. But losing their last two finals has tempered any inclination to swing from the rooftops.

Sure, there was a post-match lap of the pitch, but that was as much in genuine gratitude to the swathes of blue among the 46,823 attendance.

James Ryan, who has already played in one winning final and two losing finals, said Leinster had to focus on the performance rather than the occasion.

“It’s not really about getting to the final, it’s about winning it. So, you’ve just got to keep getting better, looking at our performances and seeing what we can do better. Doing things we can build on.

“There’s plenty from that game that we can be better at, so we’ll look at those things and be better; we have to be better next week as well. Very much, it’s all about performance.”

Of course, whereas the two defeats against La Rochelle were both in France, now O’Gara’s team have to come to Dublin, albeit that is no guarantee of anything, while the night before Toulon will play Glasgow in the Challenge Cup final after semi-final wins which mean that, barring the Sharks winning the URC, Connacht will play in next season’s Champions Cup.

“Having a final in Dublin, it is the stuff of dreams,” admitted Ryan.

“We haven’t been in that position before; it will be important in terms of how we manage the group. We have to strip it back, don’t get too sidetracked by the occasion and be very much process-focused. I know that’s boring, but that’s what will be needed.”

But in the players’ mixed zone, after another huge performance, Dan Sheehan assuredly reflected the mood within the Leinster camp, when asked which of yesterday’s semi-finalists he’d prefer in the decider.

“Whoever,” he said initially, before admitting: “It would be nice to get La Rochelle again. That one hurt us last year. To get another swipe at them, especially here in the Aviva in front of a home crowd, would be something special.”

And so it has come to pass.