When and where?
Saturday, May 28th. Kick-off is at 4.45pm Irish time (5.45pm local) at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille.
Can I watch?
You can indeed. BT Sport as usual has the rights to European matches, but both Virgin Media 2 and Channel 4 always get one free-to-air game a week, and the final is no exception.
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You can also follow on our liveblog which will get underway at 4pm on the Irish Times website and mobile app.
Are there tickets?
EPCR have reported ticket sales of 58,000 so far, but the Stade Vélodrome has a capacity of nearly ten thousand more than that. Tickets are still available on the EPCR website.
Unless you are already in France, be prepared to fork out. The cheapest weekend round trip with flights from Dublin to Marseille is coming in at just short of €500 - and that excludes accommodation.
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Path to Marseille:
Leinster
Round One: Leinster 45 Bath 20
Round Two: Montpellier 28 Leinster 0 (Match cancelled, Montpellier awarded a bonus point t victory)
Round Three: Leinster 89 Montpellier 7
Round Four: Bath 7 Leinster 64
Round of 16 First Leg: Connacht 21 Leinster 26
Round of 16 Second Leg: Leinster 56 Connacht 20
Quarter-final: Leicester Tigers 12 Leinster 23
Semi-final: Leinster 40 Stade Toulousain 17
Leinster’s record has been unblemished apart from their controversial Covid cancellation against Montpellier, with EPCR deciding to award the French side a bonus point victory. That was despite Leo Cullen et al’s adamant claims that they had a competitive, Covid-free 23 readily at hand.
Leinster felt aggrieved at the decision, especially as it likely cost them a home draw most of the way to the final. Given their comfortable wins over Bath home and away (the latter the occasion of Jimmy O’Brien’s four-try salvo) plus a record home 89-7 win over a depleted Montpellier side, they would have backed themselves to come out as top overall seed.
The final preliminary standings ensured a two-legged last-16 tie with rivals Connacht. After Andy Friend’s side gave them a scare in Galway, racing into an early lead thanks to John Porch’s try, Leinster recovered to take a five point lead back to Dublin before blowing away their neighbours a week later in the Aviva.
A tricky tie away to Premiership leaders Leicester in the quarter-finals was the reward. As a team with a strong pack, powerful set-piece and accurate kicking game, many penned them as the sort of side against whom Leinster have become unstuck of late. That narrative was firmly put to bed as the visitors raced out to an early 20-point lead before withstanding a flurry of second half pressure to book a semi-final date with Toulouse back at the Aviva.
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The French side pointed to their exhausting 100 minute effort against Munster the week before, plus the fact that they can’t afford to rest as many players as Leinster in domestic action given the Top14 is more competitive than the URC, but still admitted to being blown away by a scintillating Leinster attacking performance, led by Johnny Sexton at his playmaking best.
Stade Rochelais
Round One: Stade Rochelais 20 Glasgow Warriors 13
Round Two: Bath 0 Stade Rochelais 0 (Match cancelled and recorded as a draw)
Round Three: Stade Rochelais 39 Bath 21
Round Four: Glasgow Warriors 30 Stade Rochelais 38
Round of 16 First Leg: Union Bordeaux-Begles 13 Stade Rochelais 31
Round of 16 Second Leg: Stade Rochelais 31 Union Bordeaux-Begles 23
Quarter-final: Stade Rochelais 31 Montpellier 19
Semi-final: Racing 92 13 Stade Rochelais 20
La Rochelle’s path has been equally victory-laden while also enduring some Covid disruption. After falling behind twice at home to Glasgow in round one only to recover for a seven-point win, travel restrictions imposed on travel to the UK by the French government amid the spread of the Omicron variant led EPCR cancelling their trip to Bath and labelling it a draw. A routine win over the English side followed at home but once again Glasgow caused issues in round four, earning a 16-15 lead before eventually succumbing by eight points.
The last-16 tie against Bordeaux was relatively routine after a comfortable first leg victory away, although there was the added storyline of Ronan O’Gara coaching against Bordeaux boss Christophe Urios after the pair had a touchline spat in the Top 14 just one week before the first leg.
A 12-point win over Montpellier, thanks largely to 16 points from the boot of Ihaia West, came in the quarter-finals before La Rochelle prevailed in a turgid semi-final over Racing 92 in Lens. Ronan O’Gara’s side fought their way back from a 10-0 deficit thanks to a penalty try and another effort from Gregory Alldritt to secure another knockout date with Leinster.
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Team news
Leinster
Leinster have a clean bill of health from the semi-final and have named an unchanged 23. There were concerns over Tadhg Furlong (ankle), James Lowe (shin) and Ciarán Frawley (face), but all three have come through and are good to go.
Jordan Larmour and Ryan Baird both impressed in their return to the side against Munster last weekend, but Leo Cullen has opted to stick to the group that got him to Marseille.
Tommy O’Brien would have been in with a shout of the 23 shirt after occupying that slot against Leicester in the quarter-final, but an ACL injury has ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Will Skelton is fit to start just weeks after La Rochelle boss Ronan O’Gara suggested he was out for the season with a calf injury. However, there is no such luck for Tawera Kerr-Barlow or Victor Vito. The scrumhalf misses out after breaking two bones in his hand against Racing 92 and does not play despite O’Gara suggesting he might wear a hurling glove. Vito picked up an ankle injury last weekend against Stade Francais.
The good news on the injury front for the French outfit is that Brice Dulin is fit to start at fullback. This shifts Dillyn Leyds onto the wing.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, James Ryan; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Michael Ala’alatoa, Joe McCarthy, Rhys Ruddock, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Ciarán Frawley.
Stade Rochelais: Brice Dulin; Dillyn Leyds, Jeremy Sinzelle, Jonathan Danty, Raymond Rhule; Ihaia West, Thomas Berjon; Danny Priso, Pierre Bourgarit, Uini Atonio; Thomas Lavault, Will Skelton; Wiaan Liebenberg, Matthias Haddad, Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: Facundo Bosch, Reda Wardi, Joel Sclavi, Romain Sazy, Remi Bourdeau, Arthur Retiere, Levani Botia, Jules Favre.
What are the bookies saying?
As always, it varies depending on who you talk to. Generally, most oddsmakers are coming in with Leinster as 12-point favourites - and that includes the French bookies.
