O’Gara points to the psychological damage inflicted on Cullen’s men by another excruciating defeat
La Rochelle's head coach Ronan O'Gara and his squad with the Champions Cup trophy during the victory parade in La Rochelle, south-western France. Photograph: Romain Perrocheau/AFP/via Getty ImagesIn every final, even an epic one, there has to be a loser. Roger Federer won 20 Grand Slam finals, while also losing 11.
Ronan O'Gara celebrates after the game with his mother Joan at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho2. Take a bow Ronan O’Gara – La Rochelle have truly arrived as an elite power in European and global club rugby. They are only the fifth team to retain a title and but for Levani Botia’s red card two seasons ago it might now be three.
Georges Henri Colombe of La Rochelle scores his side's third try during the Heineken Champions Cup final against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images3. It was in some ways fitting that one of the La Rochelle replacements – Georges-Henri Colombe – should barrel over for the match-winning score. Leinster dominated the collision area in the first half hour, but La Rochelle’s bench had the bigger impact after a bigger summer investment.
4. The role of match officials and especially referees remains overbearing, and this was even truer with Jaco Peyper than Wayne Barnes a year ago, with the breakdown a war zone. But Alldritt illegally slapped the ball from Jamison Gibson-Park, when the TMO did not intervene; Jimmy O’Brien was wrongly pinged for his aerial challenge, denying Leinster a rare attacking platform in the second period.
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