Joe McCarthy: La Rochelle rivalry is more personal, like Munster

UP FOR THE FIGHT: Leinster's Joe McCarthy. Pic: Andrew Conan/Inpho

If the Champions Cup pool stages struggle to get the juices flowing anymore then La Rochelle and Leinster at the Stade Marcel Deflandre on Sunday makes for one of the exceptions to the rule.

Ronan O’Gara’s side are still struggling to rediscover the consistency that won them titles in 2022 and 2023, and the jury is still out on Leinster’s more grizzled approach to things this season, but there really is no diluting the attraction of this one.

This pair had never met before a semi-final in the French port city in 2021. A home win that day was followed by two agonising defeats for the Irish province in successive finals, but Leo Cullen’s side have hit back since with a pair of victories last season.

The first of those responses was a gritty 16-9 win in La Rochelle’s back yard and Joe McCarthy loved everything about that experience: from the win to the crowd and to the unfamiliar fish dish the hosts’ own chef served them up afterwards.

This one has a bit of everything.

“It is a proper rivalry, that's definitely how it feels,” said the Ireland lock. “It's almost like a Munster, similar to that. The training week always feels a bit different but you always try to hold yourself to that high standard.

“You're trying to prepare as well as you can because you know if you're not at your best physically, scrum and maul, it's going to be a tough day. There's definitely a bit of extra edge in any Champions Cup week, but with our history against La Rochelle it's a bit more personal.” 

Edge. Bite. Slog. These are the words McCarthy produces when looking ahead to the weekend. There’s no menace in the delivery. They are just statements of fact and he’ll be ready for the bit of expected lip that comes with it too.

Will Skelton loves some verbals. McCarthy gets a kick at how the Australian tends to propel himself from casualty ward to field of play just in time for games against Leinster. He will bring enormous size, power and maybe even wit to the table if fit.

“Yeah, a lot of chirping. It's good. It's kinda funny to hear it … I like that in the game.” 

Leinster’s win there 13 months ago played out against a backdrop of driving rain and darkening skies. The forecast for Sunday is cold but dry, and it will start at the earlier time of 3.15pm kickoff, but this will ape so much else from that particular day.

McCarthy gravitated directly to the lineout when asked about the expected forward exchanges ahead of a pool game that will go a long way to deciding who finishes top and in a position to claim home advantage long into the knockouts.

“So it will be huge in the lineout. They've a strong maul, look to get corners and edges. Then the scrum will be a huge battle again but we've a good bit of confidence in our scrum and how it's going but we will have to pitch up.” 

This, he says, is the kind of game where a guy can find out a lot about himself. But McCarthy also started to make the point that Leinster have a “big, physical team” of their own to bring to the party before his sentence tailed off.

Enough had already been said.

McCarthy, who has featured in three of the five meetings to date, is confident that Leinster are a better team now than the one that won in La Rochelle in December of 2023. And he isn’t shy about explaining why.

Leinster second rows RG Snyman and Joe McCarthy. Pic: Andrew ConanInpho

First reason? Their squad is better, he said. He didn’t mention the likes of Sam Prendergast, RG Snyman, Jordie Barrett or Rabah Slimani by name but then he didn’t have to. Leinster are clearly carrying more class now than last term.

And the second? Jacques Nienaber was in his new role as defence coach only a handful of weeks in December of 2023. The South African has had more than a year since to redecorate the house in his own distinct style.

It was all too easy to blame a perceived lack of grunt whenever Leinster, or Ireland, lost to big and imposing sides in the past. That won’t hold anymore. And as for grumbles that this has come at a cost of some silky running rugby?

“In the bigger games, being physical and coming out physically on top is extremely important. Usually you come out the right side of the battle [when that happens]. If you have a nice fancy plan, and no physicality, that rarely ever works in rugby.

“So we always want to be super physical, on the edge, pressuring teams. But we also want to keep an important part of the Leinster DNA, which is attacking really well. That’s something we don’t want to come away from.”