Home comforts may swing it for La Rochelle

O’Gara will serve a one-game touchline ban for a game which won’t be terminal to the losing side but it is one that brings with it all sorts of motivations on both sides of the coin.

FORTRESS: La Rochelle's Irish coach Ronan O'Gara looks on. Pic: VALENTINE CHAPUIS/AFP via Getty Images

La Rochelle’s hosting of Leinster at another sold-out Stade Marcel Deflandre on Sunday afternoon isn’t the last match of the opening weekend in this season’s Investec Champions Cup but these are the headliners. 

It really should be the closing act.

This is the fourth meeting of the sides in as many seasons with Ronan O’Gara’s men having won all three previous meetings, the first by nine points in a semi-final and the next two by the narrowest of margins in what were epic deciders.

Question marks linger over both before this one with Leinster head coach Leo Cullen referring on Friday to the disruption that the two rivals have had to contend with having been mass contributors to the Ireland and French squads for the World Cup.

Leinster sit top of the BKT URC having reacted to an opening loss in Glasgow with six straight wins but their late, late show in Galway last weekend was of a piece with a side that has used a tonne of players and is still finding true fluency.

La Rochelle sit ninth in the Top 14 having lost five of their nine games to date but there were signs in the defeat of Perpignan last week of a team rediscovering its best on both sides of the ball and they have Will Skelton back now too.

The Aussie giant has been kryptonite for Leinster and he comes as part of an impressively stocked side with O’Gara, as he always has done, giving his best and his all to a competition that has always meant so much to him.

Leinster are weakened by the absence through injury of Ross Byrne at ten, which sees his younger brother Harry make a first ever European start. Niggles to Tadhg Furlong and Jack Conan keep them out too and James Lowe is not ready yet to feature either.

Interesting to note, then, that Cullen has opted to leave 2022 world player of the year Josh van der Flier on the bench and give Will Connors a first Champions Cup appearance in over three years at openside flanker. More ammo for the closing act.

O’Gara, who has French flier Teddy Thomas suspended, will serve a one-game touchline ban for a game which won’t be terminal to the losing side but it is one that brings with it all sorts of motivations on both sides of the coin.

The suspicion is that home advantage might swing it.