Leinster brace for another day of drama on French soil

DRAMATIC AFFAIRS: La Rochelle's Ulupano Seuteni scores their side's second try during the Heineken Champions Cup final match last year. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire.

Leinster make for France and a Champions Cup opener against a familiar foe this weekend and they might be wondering what this latest trip to the continent could possibly have in up its sleeve after recent visits.

Trips this past three seasons have proven to be a recipe for drama, with disaster never far from the mixing bowl. Even their comfortable win away to Montpellier four years ago was claimed after Johnny Sexton took crook before kick-off.

Tame enough fare given all that has happened since.

Go back 12 months and they somehow trounced Racing 92 in Le Havre’s Stade Oceane after a nightmare 14-hour trip caused by thick fog, a flight diverted to Paris, an inability to hire a bus and, finally, a hastily-arranged 145-mile taxi convoy.

At least they made the game that time. The date away to Montpellier in December of 2021 was scrapped after a Covid outbreak in their squad before the Top 14 side, much to Leo Cullen’s fury, was awarded a four-try 28-0 walkover after the (non-)event.

But all that recedes into the background this weekend.

Of all their experiences in France, none is more relevant now than the semi-final they lost in an empty Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle in May of 2021 after what was a fervent welcome outside the ground itself.

“It was in a weird time, during Covid,” says Hugo Keenan. “I remember rocking up to the stadium and no supporters were allowed in but, jeez, they had thousands of people outside waiting for them and they hung around waiting for our bus as well.

“They obviously have hugely passionate supporters and they are rugby mad there. You have seen it with some of the homecomings they have had. They have had loads of sellouts, and records, haven’t they, for continuous sellouts in a row.” 

Leinster lost by nine points that day and the pain has only magnified since with Ronan O’Gara’s side edging two Champions Cup final meetings with a point to spare, first in Marseille and then in Dublin just over six months ago.

There is an understanding in the Leinster locker room that they need to find the right balance between thoughts of revenge or redemption and the boring but vital business of sticking to ‘the process’ and letting the big picture take care of itself.

Ultimately, each man will have to come to their own arrangement there.

“They’ve been some of the toughest I’ve been involved in,” said Keenan. “It’s been very tough losing to them. They’re a top-class outfit, aren’t they? Their record speaks for itself. We’ve had good battles with them and I’m sure this weekend will be the same.” 

The temptation is to gather all three meetings under the one umbrella given the tight window in which these two have played out that hat-trick of memorable meetings. That and the handful of other factors corralling them into one.

Consider, for a start, that Leinster took early leads in all three. They were seven up in La Rochelle, six to the good at the Stade Velodrome and 17 in front after a whirlwind opening at the Aviva Stadium.

The personnel has been relatively consistent too. Leinster have used 35 players across those fixtures with 13 of them featuring in every one. La Rochelle have fielded 36 with eleven stitching their names across all the programmes concerned.

Keenan, who played every minute of all three, wasn’t keen on the idea of drilling down into this back catalogue for any other commonalities and maybe it’s the changes that will be more relevant come kick-off on Sunday.

Players have come and players have gone. O’Gara has brought in the likes of Ihaia West (for a second spell), Jack Nowell and Teddy Iribaren while losing captain Romain Sazy to retirement and French international Paul Boudehent to Stade Francais.

Leinster are adapting to life after Johnny Sexton and Stuart Lancaster but have just welcomed two-time World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber onto their staff. All of which feeds into the perception of this as a new chapter in its own right.

“Yeah, exactly,” said Keenan. “They see things differently and it's great having the experience of those losses and lads being around for the three of them and to take the learnings from that into it.

“But it's also good to have a few fresh faces, a few new ideas, a few lads who maybe aren't scarred as much to come in and give their opinion on things and help us to ultimately win and perform.”