Leinster 26

La Rochelle 27

12 MINUTES IN, surely no one would have bet against Leinster seeing this out and sealing their fifth Champions Cup title. Well, no one except Ronan O’Gara and his champion La Rochelle team.

They were shredded in the opening stanza and Leinster had a scarcely believable 17-0 lead that early in the game. It looked like it was going to be their day after a blitz of precision, a flurry of pure rugby.

But we know that this La Rochelle team never gives up. They won last season’s final against Leinster in the dying minutes and today, they only led for the first time in the 73rd minute. They had to deliver an immense defensive grandstand in the closing stages here, but they clung on to break Leinster’s hearts for the second year in a row.

Leinster are trophyless again this season, while La Rochelle are celebrating their second consecutive Champions Cup title. It is a remarkable achievement for O’Gara, Donnacha Ryan, and co., who have a team full of big-game players who clung on when Leinster looked like running away with it.

It was a tale of the sub tightheads in the end, as Georges Henri Colombe battered over for the winning try, La Rochelle out-half Antoine Hastoy cooly converting it, while his opposite number Michael Ala’alatoa was red-carded as Leinster chased a winner in the last two minutes, having been handed a lifeline through a yellow card for Jonathan Danty.

Leinster will have huge regrets about their total lack of control in the second half as they struggled badly to exit their own half, their kicking game repeatedly inviting more pressure from La Rochelle. As La Rochelle closed the gap, Leinster lost their nerve.

O’Gara’s men were only too willing to pile the pressure on with their immense maul, while captain Gregory Alldritt led from the front as Ryan’s pack produced a sensational show of muscular grit to haul their way back into the game and in front late on.

The La Rochelle fans were obviously heavily outnumbered in the crowd of 51,711 at the Aviva Stadium but they made themselves heard throughout. They greeted the final whistle in ecstasy.

Leinster go without a trophy once again. La Rochelle march on to chase a double with the Top 14 still up for grabs. It hadn’t looked like the probably scenario early on in Dublin.

It only took Leinster 40 seconds to open the scoring as they struck cleverly on first phase of the very first lineout of the game. With Ross Molony dummy jumping towards the tail of the set-piece 36 metres out on the right, La Rochelle bought it and left space for Sheehan to thread a low throw to the front, finding Jack Conan steaming forward.

Conan scorched through and calmly drew the last man to send Sheehan in on the right, with Byrne convering for 7-0.

Leinster were humming and they had another brilliant trick play for their next lineout, this time using a dummy maul break infield to drag La Rochelle away from the left touchline before Josh van der Flier passed straight back to James Lowe, who had time and space to nudge a beautiful 50:22 kick into the corner. 

That visit to the La Rochelle 22 ended with Jimmy O’Brien crossing in the right corner with four minutes on the clock. Lowe carried strongly, Gibson-Park flung a smart pass wide to Keenan for further gains, then the scrum-half and Byrne sent O’Brien over. 12-0 Leinster with 8 minutes gone.

They followed up with an immense defensive set that included captain Ryan and Sheehan picking La Rochelle captain Greg Alldritt up and marching him downfield and ended with a turnover penalty. Gibson-Park quick tapped and opposite number Tawera Kerr-Barlow couldn’t resist grabbing at him despite being offside. Off to the sin bin he went.

Leinster took immediate advantage as they kicked down the right, just about retained their lineout, carried infield and then bounced back through Gibson-Park’s long, floated and borderline pass to Sheehan on the right touchline. He finished past Raymond Rhule and the match officials were content the pass wasn’t forward. Byrne was wide with the conversion from a difficult spot again, so Leinster led 17-0.

To their credit, La Rochelle responded when they must have been reeling.

A breakdown penalty concession from Caelan Doris invited them into the Leinster 22, where they piled on the scrum pressure, and managed to score with only 14 players. It was powerhouse centre Jonathan Danty who bumped off Garry Ringrose and re-accelerated to finish close to the posts. Antoine Hastoy converted.

Leinster tacked on another three points in the 23rd minute when Levani Botia was pinged for failing to release in the tackle, then they added another penalty at the half-hour mark after a ferocious defensive set.

It came at a cost, though, as captain Ryan was forced off with a head injury having smashed Seuteni and the mammoth Will Skelton in quick succession. La Rochelle came in the side of the breakdown after an excellent Ringrose tackle and Byrne made it 23-7.

Again, La Rochelle found a way to stay in touch. Leinster needed fullback Hugo Keenan to scramble after a loose offload from Sheehan in midfield had been nudged ahead by Paul Boudehent, but there was time for the visitors to bag their second try before the break.

Fullback Brice Dulin initiated an excellent attacking sequence with a dart down the left, then the big ball-carriers took over. Uini Atonio, Pierre Bourgarit, Skelton with an offload, Atonio again. Then Hastoy squared up to slip Seuteni into a hole to finish. 

Leinster were still 23-14 to the good as the second half kicked off but La Rochelle retained the momentum from the first half. Seuteni’s scything break took them into the Leinster 22 and the home side were offside, allowing Hastoy to close the gap to six points.

But Leinster cancelled that out swiftly, with Doris’ jackal effort forcing a knock-on from La Rochelle, then the scrum winning a penalty for Byrne to slot. But the tit-for-tat continued as Robbie Henshaw was penalised for hands on the ground as he counter-rucked off the back of a smashing Sheehan tackle on Danty just after a botched exit attempt from Gibson-Park. Hastoy made it 26-20 with half an hour left.

Tension rose. Byrne had another exit kick attempt blocked down. La Rochelle attacked in the Leinster 22. Sheehan won a huge turnover eight metres from the Leinster tryline. Leinster cleared.

But they soon botched a third exit effort as Lowe blasted the ball out on the full after Gibson-Park had passed back into the 22. Alldritt knocked on in the next passage but Lowe sliced his clearance effort. It was nervy stuff with the game back in the balance.

A thunderous La Rochelle maul followed but Leinster enveloped the ball and forced another massive turnover. 

Leinster were in need of more sustained relief and Robbie Henshaw came up with a big play in the middle of the pitch, winning a clean breakdown turnover to allow Leinster to kick downfield and get the ball back with a lineout on halfway. It was Henshaw’s last act, with Charlie Ngatai replacing him at the break in play.

Ngatai picked up where Henshaw had left off, winning a breakdown turnover of his own to end the next wave of La Rochelle pressure. O’Gara’s men kept coming but their next visit ended with obstruction after the maul made promising progress with 15 minutes to go.

The Leinster fans broke into a rendition of ‘Come on You Boys in Blue’ but La Rochelle turned over the ensuing scrum to launch yet another attack. Doris jackaled but he was penalised for hands on the ground ahead of the ball. 

It was straight in front of the posts in the 69th minute, a gimme three points. La Rochelle instead went into the corner where they won a maul penalty for Leinster dragging it down. Back into the corner they went. Another penalty, this time for an early counter-drive. A third time the French side went into the corner. 

Finally, Leinster cracked. They repelled the initial maul but La Rochelle battered at them with close-range carries and after the ball bobbled out of a ruck, gigantic replacement tighthead prop Georges Henri Colombe scooped it up and smashed over.

From the right-hand 15-metre line, Hastoy held his nerve off the tee and O’Gara’s men led for the first time with just seven minutes left. Adding to the pain for Leinster was the fact that Rónan Kelleher, only just on for Sheehan, was sent to the bin for one too many infringements from Leinster close to the line.

The 75th minute, a lifeline for Leinster. Danty smashed into Doris with a high tackle. Yellow card. 14 v 14 for the last five minutes. Leinster kicked down into the La Rochelle 22. 

But it was to end in tears as replacement tighthead Michael Ala’alatoa was sent off in the 79th minute for making head contact with Colombe in a ruck just metres from the La Rochelle tryline. 

That was it. This is La Rochelle’s year again.

Leinster scorers:

Tries: Dan Sheehan [2], Jimmy O’Brien

Conversions: Ross Byrne [1 from 3]

Penalties: Ross Byrne [3 from 3]

La Rochelle scorers:

Tries: Jonathan Danty, UJ Seuteni, Georges Henri Colombe

Conversions: Antoine Hastoy [3 from 3]

Penalties: Antoine Hastoy [2 from 2]

LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw (Charlie Ngatai ’62), James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter (Cian Healy ’79), Dan Sheehan (Rónan Kelleher ’69 (yellow card ’72), Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa ’45 (red card ’79)); Ross Molony, James Ryan (captain) (Jason Jenkins ’30); Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (Ryan Baird ’60).

Replacements: Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley.

LA ROCHELLE: Brice Dulin; Dillyn Leyds, UJ Seuteni, Jonathan Danty (yellow card ’75), Raymond Rhule; Antoine Hastoy, Tawera Kerr Barlow (yellow card ’10); Reda Wardi (Joel Sclavi ’60), Pierre Bourgarit (Quentin Lespiaucq Brettes ’66), Uini Atonio (Georges Henri Colombe ’60 – reversal ’79); Romain Sazy (Thomas Lavault ’51), Will Skelton; Paul Boudehent (Ultan Dillane ’66), Levani Botia, Grégory Alldritt (captain).

Replacements: Remi Bourdeau, Thomas Berjon, Jules Favre.

Referee: Jaco Peyper [South Africa].

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