Johnny Sexton’s post-match observation that “we came within 60 seconds of winning,” has been rattling around, rent free, in my head since Saturday evening. At face value it is an accurate assertion but in dissecting the performance metrics beneath the bald statement, it won’t offer any comfort in defeat that Leinster were within touching distance of the winning line.
One of my favourite movies, Any Given Sunday, has a line in it about inches, delivered by Al Pacino playing Tony D’Amato, the head coach. “You find out life’s this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don’t quite catch it.”
Leinster will feel that they lost the game of inches in Marseilles. In writing this column I am conflicted emotionally as I do not want to take anything from the achievement of Ronan O’Gara and his team but equally, I can’t escape my overriding emotion that if I had been playing in that match, I would have been painfully aware it was one we should have won.
Not at the death, with a defensive effort that showed how much these players are willing to work for each other, but in other smaller moments in which Leinster’s problems were self-inflicted for the most part and led to their ultimate undoing. Momentum swings are commonplace in games and one such instance was the opening try scored by La Rochelle wing Raymond Rhule.
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It was accompanied by a brutally tough lesson on defensive shape for Jimmy O’Brien. The extra step he took that brought him marginally ahead of Tadhg Furlong in alignment meant that the attackers were instantly in control of the ‘two v two’ and Dillyn Leyds and Rhule ruthlessly exposed the mistake.
To O’Brien’s credit, a similar situation presented itself in the second half and he adjusted perfectly. Making mistakes is an occupational hazard but to learn from and not repeat them is a cherished quality and he managed to do that in the most pressurised of situations; it offered a great insight to his temperament and his mental toughness.
Prior to the kick-off I felt that Leinster’s margin for error was extremely small and that La Rochelle had more latitude in how they would approach the match tactically. Leinster needed their attack to be at 85/90 per cent to win; in truth they were substantially down on that aspiration. La Rochelle not only looked more likely to score tries but crucially delivered on that impression.
It could have been even worse for Leinster in that respect. A better-timed run from La Rochelle fullback Brice Dulin on 35 minutes would have led to a try — Jamison Gibson-Park’s awareness and intervention rescued his team — and enabled Les Maritimes to lead at half-time.
One of the key components to Leinster’s attacking game is their ruck speed, and this is underpinned by successful launches from set piece. There was plenty of focus on the scrum battle but, leaving a visual impression to one side, I do not think it was where the game was won or lost for Leinster.
The other set-piece element, the line-out is so important to everything that Leinster attempt to do in an attacking capacity. In the opening 20 minutes, during which there were seven line-outs, it was going largely to plan, winning several penalties that facilitated pace and tempo in their attack; it started to stress La Rochelle.
However, from 20 minutes on the accuracy in this facet of the game began to decline, and with it so did Leinster’s ability to dictate the tempo, certainly in a manner to which they are generally accustomed.
Leinster’s next line-out on 24 minutes was one with which they have had great success as a launch play over the last number of months. It was exactly the right call, as La Rochelle’s defensive line-speed from any off the top ball was causing Leinster a few issues.
The dummy drive with Josh van der Flier, instead acting as the initial distributor, followed by scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park as the next passer, is to facilitate getting phase play started, moving the ball to a wider channel where Leinster want to win the initial ruck at lightning speed, well over the gain-line. That is the intent or theory; what ensued was less smooth.
The first pass was to Gibson Park’s inside shoulder which caused the move to stutter. It was compounded by Johnny Sexton taking the ball while stationary and then feeding Caelan Doris who is similarly immobile when receiving possession.
Instead of building an attack in a part of the field they usually own, Leinster were forced into box kicking and even though they attacked with purpose from the resulting scrum, La Rochelle were let off rather lightly. Robbie Henshaw’s line break from that scrum was matched by Gregory Alldritt and Pierre Bourgarit’s work in defence.
Incredibly Leinster’s last line-out in the final took place on 45 minutes. A moment in that passage of play that followed stuck out. Bourgarit and Will Skelton combined to reach over a ruck, pull the ball back in illegally, but in doing so bought their team a few additional seconds to realign in defence, with the upshot that Andrew Porter was stopped millimetres from the line. If the ruck is a second quicker does Porter score?
I thought referee Wayne Barnes was generous in not penalising La Rochelle for a blatant and cynical offence. It cost Leinster five or seven points, so La Rochelle gambled and got away with it. All teams do that in matches. It proved to be the last time the French side kicked the ball out of play and the final occasion that Leinster had an opportunity to build any sort of phase play from that set-piece.
While Leinster were ahead on the scoreboard, it was impossible to shake off the feeling that La Rochelle carried the bigger threat in terms of try scoring potential. In the last half an hour Leo Cullen’s side was dragged into the physical contest they so dearly wanted to avoid.
Sexton conceded afterwards that Leinster were largely boxed into the final third of the pitch and weren’t helped by some questionable decisions, including one in which he was centrally involved. He should have kicked clear rather than trying to step a chaser before offloading the trouble to Hugo Keenan. It proved a precursor to Bourgarit’s converted try that closed the gap on the scoreboard to 18-17.
There were still one or two opportunities to press their opponents, but Leinster were gripped by a malaise that had affected their performance from about the 25th minute onwards. Too often, in a high stakes match like this, when they pushed as a team individual errors pushed them back. The epilogue from the final, highlights a golden opportunity lost, one to add to the disappointment in Europe of the last four years.
It would be churlish not to acknowledge the merit of La Rochelle’s victory as they finished on the right side of small margins in a tight game. Their improvement in performance terms from the semi-final against Racing 92 was impressive; Ronan O’Gara was the architect.
I do not doubt his tactical acumen, but it does not stand alone. There is more to being a coach than a game plan. The tactics must fit snugly around what the players are capable of and furthermore there is also a man management side that is required to extract the best from a disparate group of personalities.
The Leinster coaching group had demonstrated this over several seasons in that the right set-up is fundamental to high level performance. La Rochelle have some big men, enormous in the case of Uini Atonio and Will Skelton, and to a player they worked for each other; that shows the message is unified.
Size alone did not win this final for them — it certainly did help in the dying minutes when they launched a full-frontal assault on the Leinster line — however the sheer desire to work off the ball was impressive.
Skelton and Atonio’s lack of mobility left some holes but Alldritt and Bourgarit among others were more than willing to plug them. It speaks volumes about the group of players, and how O’Gara has been able to encourage and foster a culture with which we are well versed in Ireland but perhaps not one overly familiar to French teams.
I am not sure which is more frustrating, to lose a final to a better team but play to your potential or lose big and not show up. Scratch that, this is one that will hurt Leinster most. While La Rochelle were able to expose their opponents in scoring tries, ruthless in capitalising on chances, and eventually they did physically overwhelm them but Leinster opened that particular door rather than La Rochelle bashing it down. To play well below your best and almost win, that little devil is going to sit on the shoulder for quite a while.
The Leinster coaching group will need to manage the emotional and physical fallout from this defeat as they prepare for the Glasgow match at the weekend. It will not be easy, but they must reset and go again. The URC title may feel like a hollow prize but the alternative, a trophy-less season would be much worse. Leinster appreciate better than most that you do not always get what you think you might deserve.
