Ronan O'Gara on Leinster’s ‘comfort zone’ contributing to yet another final loss

With a third European Champions Cup final loss in a row, Leinster now have the unenviable task of self-reflecting on what went wrong and why they are struggling to get over the line when it comes to the big moments.

Scores were tied 15-15 at full time in London but Toulouse scored first in the first period of extra time and then, while masterfully marshalled by the brilliant Antoine Dupont, they never looked liked losing and ultimately claimed another famous title with the 31-22 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Dupont is being hailed as the best player of a generation due to his massive impact on the game in both attack and defence.

The concern now for Leinster is that the last time they lifted the trophy was in the 2017-2018 season and now have to contend with yet another disappointing loss on the big stage.

La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has reflected on the third-consecutive loss, citing their lack of away form as a possible factor.

“When you play the best Top 14 team and you play them in a neutral venue… Leinster, so many of their games are either at home or in the Aviva,” he told Off The Ball.

“They might play a big game or two a year out of that, which doesn’t help them at all, I don’t think, when it comes to the really tough games.

“They have enough class for all those games, it’s just when it comes to a team that are as good as them, how do they continuously learn from coming up short?

O’Gara also feels that tactics, perhaps with the strong influence of former Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber, are what prevented them from making more inroads on attack.

“I suppose maybe the fact that Leinster weren’t ‘on’ in attack and the fact that maybe – as all great teams do – they build their form enough for winning on a defence, and you can see that Leinster have given a lot of time to that.

“With the, whatever, 160 minutes of training time during the week, what are you prioritising? What are you going after?

“And to say you’re actually going after everything, it doesn’t work like that, because it’s DNA of South Africa, whose their coach – Nienaber – of course you respect this guy, he comes in, it’s kick pressure and it’s tackle for your life and defend for your family, so that’s what they did.

On the question of there being a danger that three final losses in a row might make it really difficult to bounce back from.

“You have to have absolute, huge admiration for getting to three finals. The weak people would be inclined to go “Well they bottle it, they can’t get over the line”. I wouldn’t give that view. I think they’re the most consistent team. They also have the most consistent resources in the fact that a lot of them play for Ireland and there’s such cohesion in that team that there is a right to ask the question, ‘Why aren’t they getting over the line?’.

“They’re bringing in Jordie Barrett and RG Snyman, two world class players which will make them even harder to beat. I would be a firm believer in that if you keep knocking at the door and keep your values right and keep showing up, you’ll kick the door down. And I think this team is very close.

“But there is also a fear that a man, or a woman, can only take so much. I would be very, very low today if I was involved in that group who had gone to three finals, because losing in a final is ten times the hurt of losing in a quarter or a semi, because you’re all in.

“But if you multiply that season by season, it’s beyond thinkable.”