Leinster lean on defence again to 'win ugly' in La Rochelle

This win makes it three in succession for the Irish province against a club that had their number in the 2021 semi-final and in the two deciders that followed.

RIVALS: Leinster’s Josh van der Flier with Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Jules Favre of La Rochelle. Picture: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Investec Champions Cup: La Rochelle 14 Leinster 16

Try as they might, these two just can’t escape the other’s orbit. Six meetings inside five years is one thing, but it isn’t so much the frequency of these ties as the almost pathological proximity on the scoreboard that continues to make it the best rivalry in European game.