The reason why Brian O'Driscoll backs Leinster to beat La Rochelle
Three-time Heineken Cup winner Brian O’Driscoll has predicted that Leinster will win this Saturday’s Champions Cup final rematch in Dublin with La Rochelle. The Irish province agonisingly came up short against the same French opposition in last year’s decider in Marseille, but Leo Cullen’s side now has the opportunity to exact revenge in their Aviva Stadium backyard.
It’s a chance that O’Driscoll, a trophy winner in 2009, 2011 and 2012, believes his old club will take, his optimism boosted by recently sitting down and watching a re-run of last year’s final which only tipped the way of La Rochelle with a late converted try.
“I watched back the final again; they lost in the last minute, right,” said O’Driscoll to RugbyPass when asked what gives him confidence that Leinster can win on this occasion. “They were in front for the vast majority of the game.
“You look at how La Rochelle spoiled them, how they kind of dominated them at the ruck at times, how at set-piece they had a bit of dominance as well.
“They are all areas that Leinster are going to have to put right and if they can do that, like the spoiling at lineout, the timing of passes, hitting inside shoulders, the timing of runs, all of that has a negative knock-on effect to Leinster’s launch.
“Leinster are very good from lineouts, score a lot of their tries from it, so if you can stop that source, you go a long way towards stopping Leinster getting into their groove, so Leinster are going to have to try and counter that this time around.
“They have got to get their scrum right, they have got to get their ruck right and then they have to not get spooked by the shooters that undoubtedly will be coming out of the line.
“As much as it was tough viewing the last couple of weeks, they will be looking back on that final to understand where they went wrong and then you draw breath around all that – they lost it in the last minute.
“La Rochelle played very well, Leinster a little bit off, and that is probably where the two teams lie still. If Leinster play their best and La Rochelle play their best, for me Leinster at the moment are still a better team.”
An unexpected bump in the road, though, was last Saturday’s surprise URC semi-final loss at home to Munster. Admittedly, Leinster only fielded three of the same starters that were in their European semi-final XV for the win over Toulouse as numerous players were rested ahead for the upcoming final versus Le Rochelle.
O’Driscoll, however, doesn’t downplay the significance of the defeat. “There will be a huge portion of that group of players that have played their last game of the season… and you have to fight against that,” he said about the Leinster squad’s preparations this week.
“Of course, they are massively professional and they will be preparing the team, but it’s not an ideal situation to come into a Monday of a Champions Cup final week having had a bitter defeat against one of your big rivals and you are not going to be vying for domestic honours in a final for the second year on the bounce having won the four previous ones. It’s not insignificant.
“That said, they do have the opportunity to put it right this weekend and if they can get the accuracy of their game and all the detail right, which they struggled with last year, they know they will pose serious problems to La Rochelle.
“So it’s a matter of can they really focus on themselves and get those little inaccuracies right and then hopefully the rest will take care of itself.
“Ronan O’Gara got the strategy right against Leinster last year. Very difficult at the ruck, they were a pain in the backside flying off the line giving them no space and then trying to get after their set-piece, slowing them down, slowing their possession down at lineout and making it a bit disjointed and then really after getting after them at the scrum.
“If you do all of those components again this time around against Leinster, you make it hard for them. If Leinster are able to produce in those areas, they will win against this La Rochelle team.”
This Saturday will be the fourth time the Heineken Champions Cup final will be staged in Dublin. Ulster (1999), Toulouse (2003) and (Toulon 2013) were the winners, events that O’Driscoll, the then-Leinster player, purposely gave a miss.
“I wouldn’t have watched them. I wouldn’t have watched that many European finals I don’t think. Certainly, not ones that other Irish provinces were involved in, that is for sure.”
He will be at Aviva Stadium this weekend, however, in his capacity as a BT Sport pundit and he reckoned Leinster must deliver or it could well sully the legacy of senior coach Stuart Lancaster, who takes over as Racing director of rugby this summer after seven seasons in Ireland.
“It shouldn’t be defined on victory or success but the reality is it could well be,” he admitted.
“He won in 2018 but to have two final losses, other semi-final defeats, defeat to La Rochelle, defeat to Clermont, it does feel as though this team, not just Stuart, needs to win this time around to cement themselves as this great European superpower that has played brilliant rugby up until finals in the last five years.
“It feels as if they need to get this one done. It doesn’t have to be pretty – they just need to get a one-point victory of some sort and lift that trophy to cement themselves.
“They will be a great European team but there will be question marks around their ability in the biggest games if they aren’t able to get it done against La Rochelle this weekend.”
- BT Sport is home to the Heineken Champions Cup. Watch this year’s final between Leinster and La Rochelle from 4pm, Saturday, May 20, live and exclusively on BT Sport 2. Visit btsport.com/rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
What a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically. I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
25 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
4 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
4 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to comments