Following a 16-14 victory for Leinster against La Rochelle in the Investec Champions Cup, here are our five takeaways from Sunday’s Pool 2 clash at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
The top line
Antoine Hastoy missed two late chances to win the game for La Rochelle as Leinster escaped to a famous victory on the back of Jacques Nienaber’s tough-as-teak defence.
The Dubliners edged the clash of the two unbeaten Pool 2 giants thanks to a try by Joe McCarthy and 11 points from the boot of ice-cool boy wonder Sam Prendergast.
La Rochelle boss Ronan O’Gara was left cursing after his side failed to capitalise on two missed kicks by Ross Byrne and Jordie Barrett with two of their own.
With less than a minute remaining on the clock fly-half Hastoy left a 51-metre attempt inches short before, seconds later, having his attempted drop goal charged down by Josh van der Flier.
Leinster’s lineout was all over the place but, despite spending much of the game without the ball, Nienaber’s rush defence paid rich dividends.
What it means for both sides
Four-time winners Leinster will win the pool and book home advantage for the knockout stages with a home victory over Bath next Saturday.
La Rochelle, who have won only once away from home in the Top 14, must get a result at Benetton and hope the Premiership leaders spoil Leinster’s party.
More than what is at stake next week, this one was about bragging rights. For these are the fiercest of European rivals, two heavyweights of the continent who have met in the knockout stages of the last four tournaments.
Leinster might have won the most recent battle, a quarter-final in Dublin last season in which they racked up 40 points. But defeats to Les Jaune et Noir in the 2022 and 2023 finals still sting, particularly the latter, which they led 17-0.
A team which had won its previous 11 matches looked a long way off the finished article but, helped by La Rochelle losing first-choice props Uini Atonio and Reda Wardi to injury before half-time, found a way to get the job done.
Ronan O’Gara’s worst nightmare
The result will sting La Rochelle boss O’Gara, particularly given his Munster roots, but he came into the game knowing there were systemic issues with his team’s game.
ROG worked overtime to get his side’s mentality right for the challenge after an inconsistent start to the Top 14. Having made mighty hard work of beating an understrength Toulouse last week, the Munsterman had delivered a string of home truths.
“We need to change the atmosphere,” O’Gara, still the tournament’s record points scorer, told his squad. “I’ve got to change my management, we’ve got to change our mindset, we’ve got to give more. If we want to win the Champions Cup year after year, we need to work harder and forget the past.”
Roared on by their 101st consecutive sell-out they dominated possession and territory and Hastoy twice kicked them ahead in the opening half hour.
But Nienaber’s pressure defence held heroically firm and on 30 minutes Leinster delivered the game’s rope-a-dope moment. A rare foray into the La Rochelle half yielded a lineout, Ronan Kelleher threw long to Robbie Henshaw on the crash.
Ryan Baird then combined with Jamie Osborne down the short side to unlock the defence and the winger fed the scoring pass to Joe McCarthy.
O’Gara will have liked the way his men rallied from 6-16 down after an hour, especially the touch of class from winger Dillyn Leyds which brought their try 13 minutes from time. But Hastoy’s two late misses undid the hard work.
Sam Prendergast the real deal
All eyes were on Leinster fly-half Prendergast in the biggest club game of his fledgling career, three weeks before he is in line to make his Six Nations debut.
The choice for interim Ireland head coach Simon Easterby is whether to continue with the 21-year-old prodigy, who started the last two Tests of the autumn, or prefer Jack Crowley, the Munster 10 who led the men in green to the title last season.
Prendergast is a special talent, as his previous two Champions Cup outings proved; 20 points on his tournament debut against Bristol and the man of the match award in victory over Clermont a week later.
But this was a step up, the nearest he is going to get at club level to facing England in the Aviva on February 1. And twice in the first half he had kicks charged down.
It could have been worse still as Jack Nowell flapped down his pass and Hastoy took it to the house. But Nika Amashukeli, the ever-excellent Georgian ref, rightly called the play back and disallowed the try.
Did Prendergast panic, retreat into his shell? He did not. Belying his inexperience, he stayed focused and never lost sight of the bigger picture. He calmly nailed both his first-half shots at goal then, with La Rochelle rallying in the third quarter, cooly slotted two huge pressure kicks.
The quality of his performance was highlighted by what happened after he left the field. Two Leinster attempts at goal, two misses.
Toulon v Harlequins: Five takeaways as French ‘force of nature’ shines while England stars ‘buckle’
Clash of the captains
Talk about a clash of the titans. Gregory Alldritt versus Caelin Doris, club and national team captains, two big, powerful ball carriers with the number eight on their backs.
Doris came into the game leading the tournament in turnovers and quickly added to his haul by relieving Alldritt of the ball. The Frenchman, to his credit, wasted no time winning it back, but Doris was at it again midway through the first half.
This time it was Nowell who didn’t so much have his pocket picked as get mugged by the County Mayo-born forward, ripping the ball loose before passing deliciously out the back to lift the siege on his under-the-cosh team.
Doris was such a thorn in the side of the French team that replacement prop Georges-Henri Colombe vented his frustration by ripping off the Ireland skipper’s scrum cap shortly after half-time.
Both men battled to the last and although the decision went Doris’ way, Alldritt’s stock did not suffer in defeat. Every fan of the sport will look forward to the pair resuming this platinum rivalry in the upcoming Six Nations.
READ MORE: Rassie Erasmus weighs in on Springboks fans’ ‘hate’ for Antoine Dupont
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/la-rochelle-v-leinster-five-takeaways-as-jacques-nienabers-tough-as-teak-defence-leaves-ronan-ogara-cursing
