restaurant

If a European team can claim to have the recipe for the magic potion to defeat the ogre of Leinster, it is obviously La Rochelle. Winners of the Irish in the semi-finals in 2021 then in the final last year, the Maritimes are probably the only team on the Old Continent to have no complex against the people of Dublin. It must be said that with a Munsterman like Ronan O’Gara who abhors nothing so much as the dandies of the capital, the people of Rochelle have a guide who masters the workings of the Irish game like no one else, and above all makes a point of honor to build a plan likely to make them thwart.

This plan ? It is obviously based first and foremost on the qualities of the La Rochelle players, first and foremost of which is obviously the power of Atonio, Skelton, Alldritt, Botia and other Danty or Bourgarit. So many assets which had, to speak of the final of last year, only two objectives to achieve ball in hand: to wear Jonathan Sexton to the rope and to insist excessively in the collective showdown by favoring penalties and scrums than kicking points. In fact, knowing that Sexton is forfeited for the 2023 final, the first part of the plan is completed before kick-off. Now all that remains is to apply the second, in particular with regard to balls carried…

Penalties as the key to the match

What deduce that the obscure art of penalties could be the key to the match? We are pretty much convinced of that, yes… Precisely because, in light of their failure last year, the Leinstermen have considerably questioned themselves in this sector, to the point of adopting the same strategy throughout the season. than the Rochelais in the final by refusing to attempt the penalties. “Yeah, I think last year’s game can influence their strategy for the final, confirmed Ronan O’Gara. I do think Leinster will go into touch more than last year, yes. We saw it against Toulouse, even if Toulouse also gave them the opportunity to play well, which we will not do. »

In this sense, the big arms, the mass and above all the expertise of Atonio and Skelton in the art of “breaking” then stifling the balloons carried by the opponents will still constitute one of the best arguments for La Rochelle in their quest for a second star, that the Irish will necessarily seek to circumvent. “They know very well that you have a big pack and that you rely on it, framed the hooker Pierre Bourgarit. But if we go back to last year’s game, they had us hurt on a lot of carried balls and if they had continued to do it for 80 minutes, it might not have been the same issue… So, we will have to raise our level a little further on the defense of the mauls. What is certain is that it will be a tough fight. » A duel as physical as it is strategic which will probably only be enjoyed by insiders, but which will nonetheless be worth its weight in peanuts for the most informed observers, to whom this final is very likely to be addressed first and foremost…

Slow down all rucks

Indeed, it is not necessarily by the quality of the passing game or by the precision of the game reminders that this final will be won in priority for the Rochelais. But good, like last year, in the line speed in defense and the total commitment in the rucks. We remember in this respect that last year, it was indeed the constant investment of the Rochelais in the spontaneous scrums which had made it possible to seize up the Irish machine by delaying its ball outings, even if it meant flirting with the extreme limit of the regulations. We remember in this respect that the coaches of Leinster had afterwards shown themselves very angry with the referee Mr. Barnes, whom they had reproached for having observed too much tolerance vis-à-vis the Rochelais, even supporting their words in a long report accompanied by a video communicated to the EPCR. A lobbying game which has obviously worked at full capacity behind the scenes for two weeks, and the appointment of the South African Jaco Peyper to lead this final, hoping that the outcome of this one will not depend on a simple decision, again …