Donal Lenihan: Leinster's 'smarts' will be required to solve La Rochelle puzzle
The Leinster team huddle prior to the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup match between Leinster and Munster at the RDS. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
This may be viewed as a case of the masters against the pretenders with La Rochelle contesting their first Heineken Champions Cup semi-final but Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster know that they face a massive challenge at the Stade Marcel Deflandre tomorrow.
Leinster have been down this road before. Many times. Not only is this their 12th Champions Cup semi-final, it is their 179th game in the tournament. With just 17 Champions Cup games in their history, La Rochelle break new ground today.
Experience counts for a lot in this tournament but having won only one of the four previous semi-finals played in France, Cullen will be very wary of this mission. Having lost at home to Saracens in last season's delayed quarter-final seven months ago, he knows only too well that Leinster are vulnerable when they fail to control the gainline against big physical teams.
When drawing up a blueprint for this game Ronan O'Gara and Jonno Gibbes must have forensically examined how Saracens went about dismantling Leinster’s attacking threat in the 2019 final and again in that quarter-final last September.
Given that their giant Wallaby second row Will Skelton started the 2019 final, you can be sure he will have primed his fellow front five forwards on how Saracens went about dominating the Leinster scrum, frustrated their maul and, used their big ball carriers to win that gainline battle in both of those Leinster defeats.
Gibbes also has a gargantuan pack at his disposal, with the power, bulk and ball winning capacity in the front five to do a similar job to Saracens.Â
Leinster’s revamped back row of Rhys Ruddock, Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier have made light of the loss of Caelan Doris and Will Connors to injury. They were outstanding against Exeter Chiefs in the quarter-final and against Munster in the Guinness PRO14 final.
In New Zealand World Cup winner Victor Vito, French No 8 Gregory Alldritt and South African Wiaan Liebenberg, La Rochelle have a backrow unit better equipped than Exeter to match the workrate, ball carrying and ball winning ability of the Leinster trio.
Leinster learned a lot from last year's defeat to Saracens. They made subtle adjustments to their scrum set up on engagement since that game that have stood to them. While La Rochelle carry more poundage up front, Leinster are technically excellent and just that bit smarter.
With Devin Toner as productive as ever out of touch and James Ryan also back in the mix, their line out will be stronger and better equipped to do damage. That said, La Rochelle have been really clever in the way they position Skelton and Uni Atonio, who between them weigh in at a combined 46 stone, to smoother the opposition lineout maul before it gets any momentum.
That pair are also positioned together on the tighthead side of their scrum which offers them a considerable weight advantage over their direct opponents Cian Healy and James Ryan on Leinster’s loosehead side. The fewer scrums the better in that case.
Given the magnitude of that set-piece battle, Leinster will have to be smart about how they go about their business and will look to stress the aerobic capacity of the hosts' front five by playing with a high tempo and intensity.
I expect we will see a lot of quick channel one ball off scrums and a bit more ball off the top at lineout time in the middle third with Robbie Henshaw used to get over the gainline.Â
His head to head with the outstanding Fijian Levani Botia in midfield will be explosive. Botia is a beast in terms of carrying, tackling and, having played several tests for Fiji as a flanker, is also brilliant over the ball.
Leinster’s attacking game will be aided hugely by the return of Garry Ringrose who will be out to make a big statement ahead of Warren Gatland’s Lions selection on Thursday. With French international Geoffrey Doumayrou partnering Botia, that midfield battle will be monstrous given the quality and finishing process available in the respective back threes.
Ronan O'Gara has made La Rochelle an incredibly efficient defensive unit, a fact that sometimes gets lost given their attacking flair. Their linespeed has ratcheted up to a new level under his watch, everyone understands their rules and he has given a licence to Liebenburg and hooker Pierre Bourgarit to act as shooters to spook the opposition attack.
That defensive battle will be intriguing. Leinster’s attacking quality is renowned but it’s their defensive excellence that is often overlooked. While they conceded two early tries to Exeter in the opening ten minutes of that quarter-final, they were down to missed one on one tackles rather than any systems error.
The manner with which Leinster defended their line from 10 metres out against an Exeter side whose stock in trade is scoring tries from their relentless pick and drives was outstanding. Leinster never panic and they are so well drilled in their defensive duties that they use it as an energiser for themselves and a weapon to suck the life out of their opponents. That is exactly what they did against the champions last time out.
There are so many, potentially brilliant, head to heads spread throughout this contest to whet the appetite. The respective full backs are two stars of the recent Six Nations championship in Brice Dulin and Hugo Keenan.
On the wings for La Rochelle, two former Springbok fliers in Raymond Rhule and Dillyn Leyds line up against Ireland’s Jordon Larmour and James Lowe. I have already commented on the mouthwatering midfield battle while at scrum-half is another World Cup winning All Black in Tawera Kerr Barlow whose battle with the in-form captain Luke McGrath will go a long way towards deciding this contest.
Tasked with getting the best out of those mercurial back lines are two gifted coaching minds in O'Gara and Lancaster. If Gibbes will be exhorting his pack to suck Leinster into a war of attrition, O'Gara will have his backline primed to counterattack off any turnover ball while he has also been successful in creating tryscoring opportunities off first phase set piece attack.
Given his playing strength revolved around his excellent game management and his ability to put his side into the right areas of the field, it’s no coincidence that La Rochelle’s kicking game off Kerr Barlow, in particular, is designed to keep his forwards on the front foot.Â
At No 10, former Auckland Blue, Ihaia West, instinctively a runner and passer, has also broadened the scope of his game under the tutelage of O'Gara with his crossfield kick passing also of the highest quality.
In the visitors coaching box, Lancaster is the chief tactician within the Leinster set up and is really astute when it comes to finding ways to negate his opponents' strengths while designing mini-plays in attack to exploit any perceived chinks.
Leinster’s big game temperament, evident once again in the Guinness PRO14 final and especially against Exeter after a disastrous opening 10 minutes, is what separates them from the rest. They know how to handle pressure and don’t let errors impact their thought process. While Johnny Sexton will undoubtedly be missed, Ross Byrne was superb when replacing him in difficult circumstances after only 27 minutes against the Chiefs.
En route to their first semi-final appearance, La Rochelle accounted for Edinburgh, Bath, Gloucester and Sale Sharks. Tomorrow they face opposition of a different class. O'Gara and Gibbes will appreciate this better than most. Their respective insights into Leinster, going back years, offer them a decent starting point but mightn’t be enough to close the gap in what is set to be a fascinating contest.
