Champions Cup Final 2022

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POS PLAYER
15 BRICE DULIN
14 DILLYN LEYDS
13 JÉRÉMY SINZELLE
12 JONATHAN DANTY
11 RAYMOND RHULE
10 IHAIA WEST
9 THOMAS BERJON
1 DANY PRISO
2 PIERRE BOURGARIT
3 UINI ATONIO
4 THOMAS LAVAULT
5 WILL SKELTON
6 WIAAN LIEBENBERG
7 MATTHIAS HADDAD
8 GREGORY ALLDRITT
16 FACUNDO BOSCH
17 REDA WARDI
18 JOEL SCLAVI
19 ROMAIN SAZY
20 REMI BOURDEAU
21 ARTHUR RETIERE
22 LEVANI BOTIA
23 JULES FAVRE


POS
15 HUGO KEENAN
14 JIMMY O'BRIEN
13 GARRY RINGROSE
12 ROBBIE HENSHAW
11 JAMES LOWE
10 JOHNNY SEXTON
9 JAMISON GIBSON-PARK
1 ANDREW PORTER
2 RONAN KELLEHER
3 TADHG FURLONG
4 ROSS MOLONY
5 JAMES RYAN
6 CAELAN DORIS
7 JOSH VAN DER FLIER
8 JACK CONAN
16 DAN SHEEHAN
17 CIAN HEALY
18 MICHAEL ALAALATOA
19 JOE MCCARTHY
20 RHYS RUDDOCK
21 LUKE MCGRATH
22 ROSS BYRNE
23 CIARAN FRAWLEY

There are shades of the All Black World Cup drought, looking at Leinster in recent years. They spend all season looking like the best team on the planet, only to fall in the closing stages. A number of pundits are asking whether Leinster have enough tough games to prepare them for the pressure of finals, which is what used to be said about New Zealand.

Disappointing result for Leinster which I didn't see coming and concerning for Irish rugby in the way our players seem to struggle against the sheer power of bigger tight 5s. Could just be coincidence but the turning of the game seemed to be the substitution of Furlong and Sexton on 60 minutes.

Naturally commentators will focus on Keenan and Sexton's failure to clear their lines during that moment in the 2nd half but in fairness I thought Barnes gave a very harsh penalty against the Leinster clear out.

theslosty wrote:
Naturally commentators will focus on Keenan and Sexton's failure to clear their lines during that moment in the 2nd half but in fairness I thought Barnes gave a very harsh penalty against the Leinster clear out.

From memory first Leinster players arrives straight off his feet. There's been a big crack down on that in the Prem this season, penalty all day for Mr Barnes.

Leinster adapted well to Barnes and as such got a lot of the 50/50 decisions. Well until the second half. Leinster were poor after the break and as the game went on dropped off the intensity, much the same way they did Vs Leicester where they spent the second half trying to fend off waves of attack. La Rochelle certainly seemed to have looked at that game and saw that the Leinster maul defence isn't great when they tire and went to that, La Rochelle's attack and power game being a couple of levels up on Tigers meant Leinster couldn't absorb the waves of pressure.

I don't know whether it's a conditioning thing or whether the Leinster first team aren't playing enough games to be match sharp but both club and country will be looking at that ahead of the world cup.

Rugby Fan wrote:There are shades of the All Black World Cup drought, looking at Leinster in recent years. They spend all season looking like the best team on the planet, only to fall in the closing stages. A number of pundits are asking whether Leinster have enough tough games to prepare them for the pressure of finals, which is what used to be said about New Zealand.

In the end it was a three point loss in the last minute of a final to a very good side. It’s not what they want but it also shows they aren’t too far off. As a fan you can’t be too upset about that after all best way to prepare for the pressure of finals is to consistently reach finals or thereabouts.

That game reminded me of past England 6N matches where England put together a string of good victories and then come to the last game, invariably away from home, and get subsequently ambushed in a physical dogfight and lose by a couple of points. Leinster's perfect games against Leicester and Toulouse probably didn't help either, as they provided the template of how not to play against Leinster.

The LR midfield did very well to pick out the ball carriers from the multiple Leinster runners to slow down their set plays, together with a set piece that squeezed Leinster was the basis for a narrow victory, despite three good tries to nil.
The NZ coaching ticket will be looking very closely at that game for the upcoming summer tour.

Leinster will be thereabouts every season but pleased a club with origins similar to Exeter have been successful this year. O'Gara's coaching career is certainly on an upward curve.

Can’t argue with much there.

Recwatcher16 wrote:That game reminded me of past England 6N matches where England put together a string of good victories and then come to the last game, invariably away from home, and get subsequently ambushed in a physical dogfight and lose by a couple of points. Leinster's perfect games against Leicester and Toulouse probably didn't help either, as they provided the template of how not to play against Leinster.

The LR midfield did very well to pick out the ball carriers from the multiple Leinster runners to slow down their set plays, together with a set piece that squeezed Leinster was the basis for a narrow victory, despite three good tries to nil.
The NZ coaching ticket will be looking very closely at that game for the upcoming summer tour.

Leinster will be thereabouts every season but pleased a club with origins similar to Exeter have been successful this year. O'Gara's coaching career is certainly on an upward curve.

First half where Leinster played Tigers off the park was perfect, the second half they lost and spent the majority of which in their half defending, was not so great for them. Cullen admitted he wasn't happy with the amount of pressure they had to endure.

Leinster may feel that they didn't gamble enough, they do like to take any 3 on offer which isn't a bad thing but they don't seem to keep the intensity until the end of games which if it's tight makes their life difficult. La Rochelle seemed to be gambling on the offside line and accepted the penalties as the price for smashing the Leinster backs before they could carve them open. Leinster took the 3 points time and again and La Rochelle's attack was backed to take big bites out of those penalties with tries. ROG's tactics certainly played with fire but they worked. Certainly agree he's one to watch in coaching terms and he's got a great fit at La Rochelle.

Not sure NZ will copy those though they may note how Leinster tail off in games and might test Ireland by naming a high impact bench. Might look to target a creaking scrum as well, that front row combination are having their a rough few months with England, Tigers, Toulouse and La Rochelle all going after them in a big way.

La Rochelle played the better rugby and had interesting tactics to get past Leinster. Ultimately only taking the lead after the 80 minute mark shows how close Leinster were to picking up the victory. There is definitely plenty on tap for Leinster to review and get better on. (both for Leinster and also Irish coaching ticket too!!).

Leinster rested the '1st' teams and brought them in for the fixture..... did Leo miss out on maybe not giving 'form' players the nod, was he too silo'd in his approach? plenty time to think about it.

For me the biggest mistake was probably that they (Leinster) appeared to change their tactics a bit and rather than go for tries at all costs which they usually do they almost always took the points. This may have been out of a fear that they couldnt convert the try chances because of how they lost to La Rochelle last year, it could be because La Rochelle did really well at slowing down Leinster ball and preventing them from going through more than a few phases with key turnovers or it may simply have been the pressure of a final or a mix of all and more.

In the end it was a marginal loss and they gave it a good rattle so I cant be too upset with that.

carpet baboon wrote:

BigGee wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:And I have to say Alldrit is an absolute machine

Never has a bad game!

He just doesn't stop and always appears in the right place at the right time. Clever player and a beast of a man.

Pierre Bourgarit is some player too, speaks volumes for the depth of talent in France that he wasn't in their Six Nations squad. He did play in last season's tournament though as I recall it.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

BigGee wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:And I have to say Alldrit is an absolute machine

Never has a bad game!

He just doesn't stop and always appears in the right place at the right time. Clever player and a beast of a man.

Pierre Bourgarit is some player too, speaks volumes for the depth of talent in France that he wasn't in their Six Nations squad. He did play in last season's tournament though as I recall it.

For me what's been a huge change with French players over the last few years is the work rate, especially in the pack.
They have always had a big units but now they have the size, skill and the drive to just never stop.
For me they are the team taking the world cup next year.

If the pressure doesn't get to them, then they have every chance. I don't want to speak too soon, but the home crowd seems to really back them these days, which hasn't always been the case.