Do Leinster have the power to finally beat La Rochelle in a knockout game?

Murray Kinsella and Bernard Jackman join Gavan Casey to look ahead to this weekend's clash between Leinster and La Rochelle.
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[@cormacporter4990]

Saying that Ireland lost versus NZ because of physicality is so dumb. We lost because of a few Joe Schmidt specials that found our defence out, a bit of choking under pressure (the Kelleher non try), not trusting fringe players in pool matches and some questionable reffing of the scrum.

[@nogamenolife705]

they definitely didn't cope with the physicality of the breakdown tbh. Though they made a load of self-inflicted mistakes aka the lineout which is still an issue.

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

Against New Zealand, kicking to the corner when the line out was misfiring and could have gone for the posts was another factor. As was not taking off Sexton when he was knackered. All the same Jackman has a point that Leinster and Ireland come unstuck when faced with a power game. We were bullied by England and It has cost Leinster the last five years in the Champions cup. It is important that Leinster get that monkey off their back this weekend.

[@PB22559]

Leinster lost to La Rochelle in 2 finals because they couldn't dominate the physical side of things. Ireland lost to NZ because they lost the set piece battles- scrums, LOs and breakdown.

[@PB22559]

@@patrickmccutcheon9361 Ireland wouldn't even have come close to beating NZ in the world cup had it not been for JGP and Bundee Aki. Irish fans seem to forget that they wouldn't be as good as they have been, were it not for JGP, Aki, Lowe and Hansen. When i hear Irish pundits and fans talking about the Irish/Leinster 'conveyor belt' I have to laugh...

[@pconcannon]

Spot on

[@colmgeiran3476]

It's now or never for Leinster to prove another point.

[@user-is9of]

Will connors is the key. 6'5, 108kg, chop tackle master. Ive heard from school mates of his that he's even doing a phd on the optimum tackle height and technique so he's very smart aswell. A must start for la rochelle match.

[@PB22559]

Why is 108kgs a flex for a back row? Most back rows are around that weight or heavier.

[@user-is9of]

@PB22559 not many specialist 7s are 108kg.

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

just need 5 140g forwards with soft hands before the weekend.

[@Camcolito]

Hold my beer!

[@ibagnall24]

​@Camcolito you also need to be able to run😅

[@Camcolito]

@@ibagnall24 Oh..

[@celtic333ful]

turns out we didn't.

[@kevinheaney9177]

I rewatched the champions cup final last night. Leinster think a big second row will solve all their problems when it's mental weakness and lack of leadership that keeps fucking them over. They can't spend their way out of what's wrong with them

[@decekfrokfr3mdx]

If you can’t build momentum and are being overpowered in the tackle, ruck, scrum and line-out by a team full of giant Pacific freaks, you have to kick the ball much more. La Rochelle profit by pressurising Leinster’s possession game into coughing up penalties and turnovers. Kick it relentlessly and accurately and force them to create something themselves. They might still win but it will be harder for them.

[@brianmurphy9250]

Toulouse 's pack were big or bigger than La Rochelke. When we beat them no one talked about size. Same as when we beat France or SA. Nothing between Leinster La Rochelle I'm last 2 finals I'd blame adapting Conor Murray style tactics the second half v La Rochelle in last years final rather than size.

[@johnhearne2192]

Just for the record - La Rochelle do not lose at home but Leinster beat them when they were not at their best either. Team just getting back together after RWC. Conditions were awful and should have suited Birch's "power team" but Leinster found a way to win. Also losses were by tiny margins. Find a new script Birch and give Murray a look in!

[@ctorus]

100%. This is really low grade stuff and I thought the42 was a bit more insightful

[@gregobroin7738]

BJ talking a lot of sense about the power game disrupting Leinster & Ireland but with the benefit of hindsight after the game on Sat, we can see the influence of J Nienaber with his rush defence. That will improve both Leinster & Ireland going forward. Fully agree IRE lost to ENG because the power game unsettled us. The tour to SA is the precise training & test IRE needs.

[@johsmorris9897]

Poor Murray at back of class couldn't get a word in 👀😟😎

[@johnmc3862]

🙄 It’s only 8 minutes in fairness.

[@bernieob9577]

We will see on the day. Looking forward to the game , come on leinster ❤

[@jacqloock]

Bernard misunderstood Rassie 180 degrees. His whole point was that regardless of how smart you are, this is not chess. Wouldn’t worry if I were Ireland with a young McCarthy, Berne, Ahern et Al coming through they will soon monster us.

[@kaka-bk6uk]

No doubt easy win for Leinster.

[@fionnmckool]

Pity they are getting so much rain in Cork😊😊😊😊

[@fionnmckool]

Stop the crap lads, how do we beat them???

[@nealsweeney9383]

We don’t have the power in the locks yet & our replacement front row aren’t good enough . We also need a real leader like POM to drive Leinster on in crunch matches , Brad Thorne , Rocky elsom , nacewa , lads that dig deep when the chips are down - a real “ dog “ that drives the team on / Leinster don’t have that yet

[@daviiidoff]

Pom may be a leader but playing him is handicapping us all he can do is catch a line out , useless around the pitch . James Ryan is the leader we need and without him this weekend is why I am worried . If he stays on in the final last year then we win

[@user-xv2pf7qs5g]

Allez la Rochelle.......

[@Footballassassins]

Antonio and Skelton, there the worry for leinster!

[@carmodyneil]

I'm waiting to be convinced that Nienaber is the real deal without Erasmus !

[@Driver2616]

Jackman is right. Irish teams, international and club, do find it very difficult against power. That’s not to say that they can’t win. Of course they can win. They’ve got technically better players. It’s just that it’s much more difficult against the French and South African power. And indeed we saw a clear example of that in the England/Ireland game last month when England with a bit of power and speed upset a technically better and more skilful Irish team. And in the ERC final last year, in the second quarter of the game, Leinster were a long way behind that La Rochelle power game. That first La Rochelle try showed exactly how their power was enough to eventually overcome Leinster, despite falling substantially behind to Leinster’s superior skills in the first quarter. So Leinster this weekend, if they can somehow deal with the La Rochelle power, particularly in the last quarter of the game (and let’s face it Leinster are good enough to do so if all goes well for them), then they’re certain of victory. But if they can’t survive the power game that the French club will bring, then La Rochelle should win, unless they themselves throw it away.

[@PB22559]

The set piece is where this game will be won and lost. Leinster haven't been performing in the scrums, their line out hasn't been overly convincing and their breakdown work hasn't been as good as it was in the past. Aldriit, Skelton, Botia and Atonio are going to be hard to stop. This is a huge game for ROGs and Leo Cullens sides. If Leinster win, the win will go a long way to healing the wounds from the last few seasons. If La Rochelle win, Leinster fans and pundits will have to accept that La Rochelle are the better side. Nienabar is in the coaching ticket now so I'm expecting a huge effort in defense from Leinster and some plays we haven't seen until now. I still think La Rochelle will edge it by 2 pts.

[@Driver2616]

@@PB22559 : if Leinster don’t win then the hard truth, unpalatable as it will be for some, is the Leo Cullen has failed to deliver trophies with the quality of players that other teams can only dream of. His time might be up this year if Leinster don’t win in Europe.

[@PB22559]

@@Driver2616 Leinster struggled back in the day with the power the likes of Saracens and Toulon used to bring. La Rochelle are beating them in the same way, by being the more physical side and getting the edge at set piece time.

[@Driver2616]

@@PB22559: Absolutely correct. One would’ve thought that they’d have overcome that problem by now.

[@PB22559]

@@Driver2616 That's why they've signed Snyman. Let's see if he plays more games for Leinster than he has Munster.

[@MarcelAspenite]

We don't have the personnel to win the power game and we don't play the proper strategy to mitigate it.

[@tomgreene1843]

Atonio and big Bill...??

[@nogamenolife705]

La Rochelle probably don't have much of a chance in winning the league so they really only have the 3 in a row left. I think Leinster might finally win this one though.

[@alanoneill3167]

Lunacy. Leinster and Ireland have been beating big packs. La Rochelle and New Zealand were much better at the break down on the day so we lost. Tell us how to combat ROG's jacklers! 😂 Off loads will win those games, not being more physical. Theyre Monsters

[@PB22559]

The breakdown is part of the physical battle though. NZ dominated all facets of set piece -which indicates that they were, in part, more phsyical than Ireland.

[@alanoneill3167]

@@PB22559 Absolutely. Out fought in that game 100%. My point on thinking the content is lunacy is that a few years ago we couldn't seem to compete with any of the bigger teams in the area - Saracens, Toulon, South Africa, England, France - but they've beaten all of them in that area in the past few years. So, for me, it's lazy to go back to "we can't cope with the physicality" - maybe chalk it up to not at the right physical pitch on the day or an underperformance etc, but I really want to hear what technical aspects of the game can be targeted as opposed to the old point they're going back to of "just can't cope physically".

[@drdecco1]

I suspect it won’t be the forwards, if we lose it’ll be the lighter weight backs losing 1-on-1s imho.

[@daviiidoff]

Lighter weight backs ? Apart from Dante Leinster back line is bigger

[@drdecco1]

@@daviiidoff that’s correct especially with the heftier Frawley in now - I wasn’t referring to backs versus backs exclusively - defensively my main concern is Larmour but 9, 10 & Ringrose were all being run over at crucial times in previous La Rochelle games - moreso towards end of games as they gassed out.

[@Swiftybru]

I think Birch is right and La Rochelle will overpower Leinster again. I’m hoping I’m wrong as I’d like to see an Irish team qualify.

[@paulnash5500]

All this talk about power play beating the Irish teams 🙄. Ireland stood toe to toe with SA and NZ in the WC. Ireland beat France 2023 & 2024. It’s tiring all this talk about the power game beating Leinster & Ireland. Our statistics say different. Sometimes Ireland / Leinster don’t bring their A game and get caught. It’s a human thing. LAR, Toulouse and now Bordeaux are bigger than most teams in world rugby including SA, England and France, not just the Irish. I predict a Leinster win and not just because LAR aren’t firing on all cylinders. 😉🏆

[@celtic333ful]

Using the " they get bullied by a bigger pack" line is just lazy analysis. If that was so, how come Leinster have dominated Tolouse for the past 3 or 4 years?

[@Hometruths29]

Every one of the Provinces has had their scrums destroyed by opposition teams this season. With all our teams now struggling in the lineout, things are not looking so good for Irish rugby.

[@Johan-rg3vo]

No I don't think so sadly...they are just too big and powerful...jr physicality a huge loss and we are seriously missing Ringrose creativity and defence in midfield

[@daithipol]

First final lost on what ROG even called a 5050 scrum call and the 2nd on a stupid card. But when leinster win AWAY its a tight match. Run those fat ba****sd around the park and insist the ref doesnt give them 5 min breaks to get their bellies rubbed in the last ¼.

[@PB22559]

Leinster don't have the game to run them around the park. If they did, they would've done that in their previous meetings.

[@daithipol]

Of course they do. And they did but the fake injuries come out in the last ¼ and the big lads get breaks for 5 mins.

[@garydonlan7869]

Not exactly groundbreaking insight here. We are all aware of this about Leinster and Ireland. But there has to be a tradeoff with size versus smaller and quicker. Play to our strengths. Now lads,tell us how...

[@Footballassassins]

Frawley is better at kicking than the byrnes

[@thomaspollock5709]

U have to get ringrose no matter what porter us causing all problems in ruck they must say now or never.

[@TropicalJungleIreland]

Correct. Leinster had the winning of those games.

[@PB22559]

Who cares. They lost, thats all that matters.

[@ctorus]

Disappointed to see Jackman trotting out this tiresome and bogus meme about Leinster and Ireland. We've beaten plenty of powerful teams in knockout games, and outmuscled them ourselves. La Rochelle may be an outlier on the weight scale, but this is building up a whole narrative on the back of a couple of very close matches. A point here or there going the other way and it would all be different apparently.

[@PB22559]

Ireland have NEVER beaten a team in a knock out game in the world cup so I'm not sure why you included Ireland. For all the hype Leinster get, they've only 1 heineken cup in the last 12 years or so. Leinsters line out, scrum and ruck work isn't as good as it has been in the past. I hope they win this weekend but wouldn't be at all surprised to see La Rochelle grinding out another win against them.

[@ctorus]

@@PB22559 the chat was about Leinster, so that's clearly what I'm referring to. But the meme gets thrown at Ireland as well with equal lack of validity. Ireland and Leinster have beaten plenty of strong teams in big games that beforehand are built up as being significant. Only after we've won do people turn around and say they didn't count for anything, orits only RWC knockouts that matter. It's a lazy trope. I expect it from random KZbin comments but not from these guys.

[@PB22559]

@@ctorus When the vast majority of the Irish side is made up of Leinster players, the comparison IS valid. Rugby world cup knock out stage IS where it matters though. The best teams rise to the biggest of occasions. Ireland don't. When it comes to Leinster, winning European trophies is what matters and they have only 1 in 12 years so they're not as good as you seem to think they are.

[@ctorus]

@@PB22559 I never said a thing about how good Leinster are. They have numerous flaws and get overhyped by shit pundits and people who don't actually watch much rugby. I accept that for casual fans the only things that matter are RWC HC trophies. It's a limited and not very interesting perspective which discounts all the other games that actual fans watch, but you are of course welcome to have it. Nevertheless I guarantee that if we'd lost the group game or previous tests v SA, or failed to win the 6n, people would be claiming those were all big games too. Oh and if Leinster had won the URC last year that wouldn't have mattered either, but apparently it's a big deal because they didn't. Yawn.

[@PB22559]

@@ctorus I never said the world cup is all that matters. Winning GSs is also a great achievement but Ireland came up short even though they were the favourites to beat England. Winning european cups is also a big achievement. leinster were favourites last year but they lost, again. You don't seem to be completely biased, so ,what are Leinsters flaws in your opinion?

[@deirdreryan5674]

Leinster are not Ireland-they constantly forget that. They are not as good as the hype from commentators make them up to be.

[@johnmc3862]

How are Leinster to control what commentators say about them?

[@thomaspollock5709]

Leinster played terrible sat porter making sane mistakes rake him out or tell him stop the best are foreigners lowe etc byt they have lost faith un thenselves berves ahowed early on they beed fast players and fo to corners all time as we dont g Have no good kickers kineouts are bad terrible we need ro kick kick all time in this match for territory to keep your chance sat they myst be great they beat bulls who have bug oack by kicking the out if their area.canr see rhem winning if they dont try

[@deirdreryan5674]

We beat them with Connacht, Munster and Leinster-not Leinster.

[@deirdreryan5674]

Sorry, Ulster.

[@justsceptic3085]

only toulouse can beat la rochelle...

[@WhyUbrown]

only leinster can beat toulouse...

[@justsceptic3085]

Only la rochelle can beat leinster...

[@johnmc3862]

Leinster already beat them away this season!

[@kenrehill8775]

Time for another quarter final Irish choke? Just joking lads, you can’t criticise a nation that’s never lost a rugby World Cup final! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@danielg8001]

Munster,URC Champions 🤫

[@johnmc3862]

Still trolling Irish rugby vids. 😂😂😂

[@R-ec9bn]

@@johnmc3862poor chap has nothing better to do with his time

[@kenrehill8775]

@@johnmc3862 it’s only to give you something to do Johnny. If you weren’t stalking me, you’d be stalking some poor woman, I’m providing a service to the community.

[@PB22559]

@@R-ec9bn And Irish fans still take the troll bait.