Leinster were held try-less for the second time in a Champions Cup final but on this occasion did not manage to sneak a victory as Arthur Retiére’s 79th-minute try, converted by Ihaia West propelled La Rochelle to a 24-21 victory and a first European crown.
In 2018 the Irish province beat Racing 92 15-12 in the Champions Cup final in Bilbao, their last victory in the tournament and since then they have scored just five tries across the four knockout games that they have lost in the interim.
Leinster were outscored two tries to one by Saracens as the English club prevailed 20-10 in the 2019 final at St James Park in Newcastle. Mark McCall’s side were to prove the Irish province’s nemesis once again the following season, this time in a quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium, with Saracens winning 25-17, despite losing the try count, two-one.
Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle beat Leinster in last season’s semi-final 32-23 — two tries apiece — and on Saturday night in Marseilles, the champions scored three tries with Leo Cullen’s side again failing to cross their opponents’ line in a final.
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Leinster’s five tries were scored by Tadhg Furlong (two, Saracens 2019, La Rochelle, 2021), Andrew Porter and Jordan Larmour (Saracens, 2020) and Ross Byrne (La Rochelle, 2021). For such a traditionally free-scoring team, Leinster have really struggled against physically big sides, with Saracens and La Rochelle both racking up back-to-back wins against the Irish province.
Only once in that run of defeats have Leinster scored more tries than their opponents. Arguably the other statistic that endorses those struggles is that they gave up 14 penalties which their opponents kicked, three by Saracens in 2019, six by Saracens in 2020 and five by La Rochelle in 2021.
Number
210: The number of tackles that Leinster made during the Champions Cup final compared to just 87 for La Rochelle which emphasised the French club’s dominance in possession terms. European player of the year Josh van der Flier led the way with 25, while James Ryan, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and Jamison Gibson-Park excelled in a defensive capacity.
La Rochelle savouring title
One of La Rochelle’s three try scorers Pierre Bourgarit, and tight head colossus Uini Atonio, the New Zealand-born French international Grand Slam winner of Samoan heritage, tried to offer some perspective on their team’s Champions Cup victory and in doing so become the fourth French club to win European rugby’s elite club tournament.
Bourgarit said: “I hope that with victories like that, we will experience others, but this one will remain forever engraved at the club. It cannot be taken away from us. If we describe the end of the match, it looks like it was written on a piece of paper before the game.
“Who would have thought that for 10 minutes we would keep them under pressure before registering this liberating try at the end? It’s incredible. We are going to have three wonderful days; Wednesday or Thursday, we’ll go back to work. We are going to savour this title, it’s important because we had a lot of disappointments last year.”
The narrative is invariably defined by the winners but Atonio argued that there were no doubts in the La Rochelle coaching and playing group that they would beat Leinster. “It’s extraordinary. I do not know what to say. We fought for and with guys who have been at the club for 10, 11, 12 years without winning anything. This win is crazy.
“This victory cannot be taken away from us. Leinster had never beaten us. Now we will be the team to beat.” In terms of Arthur Retiére’s 79th-minute try he admitted: “We are not going to say that it is logical to have scored but when we applied such pressure, for 10 minutes, whether it is Leinster or any other team, it ends up coming to pass.”
He asked how he’d rank this victory against a Grand Slam, which he won with France in the Six Nations. Atonio replied: “I’m going to savour it even more because I’ve been playing in La Rochelle for a while and we haven’t touched a Cup.”
Quote
“It’s something huge. Like after the Grand Slam (with France), there are so many emotions. It is emptiness. Everyone shows me videos of the port (of La Rochelle). We bring this trophy back to our supporters. They deserve it more than us. They are more European champions than us. I cannot wait for tomorrow. We will give them this trophy.”
La Rochelle captain Gregory Alldritt
Ngatai to give Leinster boost next season
One member of the Leinster squad for next season, Charlie Ngatai, got to celebrate in Marseilles at the weekend after he helped Lyons to victory over Toulon in the European Challenge Cup final. The 31-year-old former All Blacks will join the Irish province during the summer after turning down a contract offer to remain with the French Top 14 club.
Ngatai enjoyed a strong game in the final, kicking a penalty, but also using his footballing and game management skills to keep his side on the front foot, while also demonstrating his offloading ability and a clever grubber kick or two.
The New Zealander’s ability and experience will be important in helping to develop young players like Jamie Osborne, Tommy O’Brien, Liam Turner Chris Cosgrave, Andrew Smith, Niall Comerford, Max O’Reilly and Rob Russell.
