The Leinster Roadblock on La Rochelle's European Journey
Apologies to those who received and opened an unfinished version of this article this morning - technical difficulties and all that.
La Rochelle, the city, is beguiling. The sun shimmers over one of France’s most beautifully preserved ports as the quayside bustles with boats small and large. The seafront is packed with lively cafes and eateries. Inwards, its arcade streets are surrounded by French baroque architectures that are now inhabited by boutique shops, selling everything from fashion to delicious pastries and fresh bread.
Since the international playboy billionaire class chose to dock their boats on the Côte d'Azur, well-to-do French visitors anxious to escape the vulgarity have headed westward, towards La Rochelle.
Ronan O’Gara too has found himself here, where the beauty and calmness of this section of the Bay of Biscay has no doubt brought a much needed level of prosperity to him and his Stade Rochelais side, who have faced a climb of mountainous proportions over the past 12 months.
The collective despair they no doubt endured as last season’s tiring, Covid-ridden journey ended in two finals losses will have weighed on them. Evidenced by their poor start to this season where they lost four of their opening five Top 14 games.
To reach one final is difficult, obviously. To reach two in a single season is a struggle of monumental magnitude - to lose both leaves a scar. But it is a pain that, over time, O’Gara will have weaponised. Converting pain to passion, in turn creating power on the pitch.
For the second time in as many seasons, however, La Rochelle have ascended to the pinnacle of European rugby. They venture to Marseille this weekend for a second chance at lifting their maiden Champions Cup at the Stade Vélodrome.
They’re so close to the peak. They’re 80 minutes away from rectifying last year’s disappointment and parading a trophy around the entrancing South-West coast of France. Yet, the mountain seems to grow taller. The journey becomes even more arduous this weekend as a Yeti steps out its cave to stop them scaling any further; four stars embedded in its fur and a desperate longing for a fifth fuelling its ruthlessness.
Okay, comparing Leinster to a bigfoot-like behemoth may be slightly hyperbolic. But judging by the extent to which the Irish are favourites this weekend, the comparison may not be such a stretch.
If Aliens landed on Earth and demanded to witness rugby in it’s most perfect form, turning on BT Sport and exposing them to Leinster’s 40-point clinic against the defending European champions, the purebred Toulouse, wouldn’t be too far from the ideal example.
The style of rugby that Leo Cullen has cultivated, which he unleashed on Toulouse in Dublin, is dangerously efficient. Beautiful and savage in equal measures. The speed at which they move the ball from ruck to ruck through Jamison Gibson-Park is too much for teams to handle. Scrambling their opponent’s defence and creating a myriad of problems for them to solve. Like a maths teacher bombarding you with algebraic questions when you barely even know your times table.
In rugby, players who shape to receive the ball in attack without actually getting it are usually referred to as ‘dummy’ or ‘decoy’ runners - terms which don’t seem appropriate for Leinster, their implication being that said player will never get the ball and their role is just to run a block on the defence. Rather, each Leinster runner represents a realistic option for Jonathan Sexton or Gibson-Park to pass to. A multitude of options creates a perfectly unpredictable situation for the defence. Sexton and his backline colleagues then split them open with pace and precision.
Attacking flexibility will be key this weekend. Leinster’s attack against La Rochelle last year was predictable, and O’Gara’s breakdown jackals ate it up.
Whilst the likes of Saracens in seasons gone by have built a supremely dominant game around winning without the ball - beating teams into submission through a heavy pack and accurate kicking - Leinster are hammering sides into submission by keeping the ball as much as possible. Creating hesitancy in their opponent’s defence with breathtakingly quick ruck speed, and punishing them with excellent decision making.
It’s no surprise that, of the four Champions Cup players with the most carries this year, three are from Dublin - Caelan Doris (72), Jack Conan (71), and Hugo Keenan (68). Interestingly, La Rochelle’s Gregory Alldritt sits ahead of all of them with 113, and second in total metres made with 731.
And so, for La Rochelle, the key will be to stop that speed. Shut off the engine before Gibson-Park can even turn the key. Slow down their ball and compete at the breakdown. Its a weapon they certainly have in their armoury, and one they wield with impressive mastery as they rank second in the competition for turnovers won per match with 6.6. Hooker Pierre Bourgarit and lock Rémi Picquette lead the way in this category with seven each. Equally, centres Jonathan Danty and Levani Botia are accomplished turnover threats - when they aren’t barrelling forward with offloading intent that is.
The ruck is where Leinster have been overpowered by physically larger teams in recent years. Sides who found the answer to the province and ground them down, the likes of Saracens and last year’s La Rochelle. A loophole Leinster have seemingly countered by keeping the ball away from the congested contact area this year. A problem to which nobody has found an answer to as of yet.
La Rochelle’s battle is seemingly not only with Leinster, as fate and luck don’t inherently appear to be on their side either. Major injuries have hit them at a crucial time. Ex-All Blacks scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow, a key component in O’Gara’s side, fractured two bones in his hand in the semi-final win over Racing a fortnight ago. The head coach has apparently turned to Cork company ‘Mycro Sports’, who produce gloves prominently worn in hurling in Ireland, in a bid to ease the pain on his scrum-half’s maimed hand.
Add to that their second All Black Victor Vito, who is retiring at the end of the season, is currently trudging around in a moon boot after an ankle injury he suffered in training. The World Cup winner faces a tight race against time to add another trophy to a plaudit-laden career.
A massive boost has at least appeared in the form of Will Skelton’s return to fitness. To what extent he is fit and ready although, remains to be seen. The Australian and his immense physical presence was a key part of Saracens’ continental torment of Leinster, a streak he continued as La Rochelle defeated them in last year's semi-final too.
The Stade Velodrome will be hit by a wave of blue this weekend, but a swell of black and yellow might just wash them away as fervent La Rochelle supporters will travel from one coast to another. Desperately willing their side, who were in the Pro D2 as recently as 2014, to cap their journey to the top with a trophy for the relatively empty shelves at the Stade Marcel Deflandre. Moulding themselves into Europe’s finest, and in the process breaking the stranglehold that the likes of Saracens, Toulon, Toulouse, and Leinster have had on this tournament’s recent history.