Category: La Rochelle

400 : La Rochelle v Leinster wrap

12 January 2025; Jamie Osborne of Leinster offloads to teammate Joe McCarthy before he runs through to score his side’s first try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 2 match between Stade Rochelais and Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
also available on Apple and most major platforms

🏉  80-minute D

🏉  The Porter Protocol

🏉  Jamie spin, Joe score

🏉  Missed kicks

🏉  Frantic finish

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

FULL TIME TAKES

John Hyland

Botia was a nuisance when he came on. Leinster were very physical and really ripped into them in the first half but lost a bit of intensity after the substitutions. Both sides need to improve their place kicking.

Gavin Hegarty

Ok let’s not call a spade a shovel here. We won but it was far from satisfactory. So many schoolboy errors that a better side would have hugely punished us on. Our lineout is an utter sham, I don’t get how a pro team can have one so bad. I think some of the subs, like Byrne and McGrath, happened to early, prendergast was doing very well.

On a side note that TMO should be fired for raising the Doris tackle with the ref and for wasting everyone’s time reviewing it. I think he was aiming for the world’s first back to head penalty.

Jackie McEachern

Happy for the win away. Amazing defence and still lots to work on in attack. We can’t miss kicks like the one Byrne missed in games at this level. The kick Barrett missed was much more difficult and maybe we should have gone to the corner then?

For me MOTM was between JVDF and Doris.

Greg Kelly

We turned the tables on them. We had them running into brick walls and numerous times their sustained phase attack was driven 20-30m backwards. They did that to us in our 1st few encounters.

Ross Byrnes missed kick again I think will be another paving stone on his road out of the club. In a game like that you can’t miss those kicks

Kevin Kelehan

O’Gara had La Rochelle pumped, the crowd was extremely partisan. Leinster made mistakes but had the winning mentality, did not make it easy for themselves but did the hard work without the ball.

John Jones

Amazing defensive performance and we looked in control for the middle part of the game. Thought we really lost our shape once all the subs were on though and there were far too many players out of position- need a more balanced bench selection I think. Also, Ross is a great servant but Frawley has to be the back up 10 in these games i think. I just don’t trust Byrne in clutch games and that penalty miss was pretty unforgivable I think. Also wasn’t it very similar to the penalty that Frawley came off the bench and nailed in the same fixture last year?

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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

399 : La Rochelle v Leinster preview

NOTE – since recording the pod there were further changes made to the lineup, it reads correctly below

also available as a podcast

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Jordie Barrett 14. Jimmy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jamie Osborne 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Cian Healy 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Gus McCarthy 17. Andrew Porter 18. Rabah Slimani 19. RG Snyman 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ross Byrne 23. Ciarán Frawley 

LA ROCHELLE : 15 Brice Dulin 14 Jack Nowell 13 Ulupano Seuteni 12 Jules Favre 11  Dillyn Leyds 10 Antoine Hastoy 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow

1 Reda Wardi 2 Quentin Lespiaucq 3 Uini Atonio 4 Thomas Lavault 5 Kane Douglas 6 Paul Boudehent 7 Oscar Jegou 8 Greg Alldritt (C) 

16 Nikolozi Sutidze 17 Alexandre Kaddouri 18 Georges-Henri Colombe Reazel 19 Ultan Dillane 20 Levani Botia 21 Judicaël Cancoriet 22 Matthias Haddad 23 Hoani Bosmorin.

Investec Rugby Champions Cup 24/25 Rd 3

Sunday January 12, 2025

KO 3:15pm  Stade Marcel Deflandre

Live on : Premier Sports 1

Referee : Nika Amashukeli (Geo)

AR1 : Christophe Ridley (Eng)

AR2 : Sam Grove-White (Sco)

TMO : Ian Tempest (Eng)

337 : Leinster v La Rochelle wrap

13 April 2024; Dan Sheehan of Leinster dives over to score his side’s fourth try despite the tackle of Jonathan Danty of La Rochelle during the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final match between Leinster and La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

🏉 Nienaber D

🏉 Frustrating restarts

🏉 Excellent exit

🏉 Ross the Boss

🏉 Monkey gone

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN & MARK JACKSON

FULL TIME TAKES

Neil ‘Keego’ Keegan

That was massive for between the ears

Rewatched highlights. There was only 1 horse in it

I’m trying to figure out the La Rochelle game plan 

Also trying to figure out why Leinster-jitzu didn’t work in the years previous

Today is a (nother) day my aul lad and others didn’t have. France were unbeatable and we were close to thinking the same about La Rochelle. 

Today we showed what the story is. It’s actually unreal because it dismantled a he entire O’Gara La Rochelle gameplan

Paul McSweeney

I went to the game thinking that Leinster at their best might just squeeze a win in. How wrong can I be? That was an emphatic performance. Leinster needed this win way more than LR and it showed.

Now I’m just hoping that Croke Park is fully open and that tickets will be reasonably priced. I have my tickets for the final already…

Kevin Kelehan

Been watching Leinster since 1986 when they beat Munster in that years inter-pro, without hesitation that is by some distance the best Leinster performance I’ve ever seen, no Hugo Kennan, no Gary Ringrose and no James Ryan, yet they completely and utterly destroyed and humiliated the reigning champions in some style. Looking forward to the final in Tottenham and the cinquieme etoile!!!!

Greg Kelly

Usual story. Another 5 year French dynasty falls. The Leinster dynasty and brand continues. A few 50/50 calls saved LAR some extra pain but it feels like a sort of redemption. LARs false economy was built on Leinsters back and it falls to Leinsters sword.

LAR went to Cork looking to harness the local energy and they certainly harnessed some Munster European Energy 😉

William Andrew

Very well thought out performance by the players and coaches. Expected a slug fest with the selection but Leinster were moving LR around the park mercilessly.

I have had my reservations about Neinabar, but my goodness he delivered a class performance today.

Great to see secondary players delivering an emphatic game when it matters so much.

Chris McDonnell

I am not a Ross fan but he was excellent today. Credit where its due. Leo gambled with some calls today and got them right. Well done to them all.

Alan Murphy

A Test quality performance. Professional and tactical perfection. Delighted with the lads today. High pressure game with a lot of nonsense coming out of Cork during the week. Onwards and upwards.

Martin Lynch

Just So Lucky To Be A Leinster Fan. The Relief In The Stadium Was Palpable. Roll On Croker .

John O Halloran

Best performance in a long time, they stepped up . Well done.

Josephine Boyd

A fantastic performance from our boys in blue.💙👕🏈👍👏👏💪☘️

@harpinonrugby

Have wait for the traffic to clear so might as well do an aul TikTok as ya do… #LEIvLAR #InvestecChampionsCup #rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

QUARTERFINALS

BORDEAUX 41-42 HARLEQUINS

LEINSTER 40-13 LA ROCHELLE

NORTHAMPTON 59-22 BULLS

TOULOUSE 64-26 EXETER

SEMIFINALS

SAT MAY 4

LEINSTER V NORTHAMPTON

SUN MAY 5

TOULOUSE V HARLEQUINS

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

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AT ELVERYS

336 : Leinster v La Rochelle preview

also available as podcast

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER :  15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Ryan Baird 7. Will Connors 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Michael Milne 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Josh van der Flier

LA ROCHELLE : 15. Dillyn Leyds, 14. Jack Nowell, 13. UJ Seuteni, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Teddy Thomas, 10. Antoine Hastoy, 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow

1. Louis Penverne, 2. Tolu Latu, 3. Uini Atonio, 4. Ultan Dillane, 5. Will Skelton, 6. Judicael Cancoriet, 7. Levani Botia, 8. Grégory Alldritt (c)

16. Quentin Lespiaucq, 17. Alexandre Kaddouri, 18. Joel Sclavi, 19. Thomas Lavault, 20. Paul Boudehent, 21. Yoan Tanga, 22. Teddy Iribaren, 23. Ihaia West

Investec Champions Cup 2023/24 Quarterfinal

Saturday, April 13, 2024

KO 5:30pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: RTÉ2, TNT Sports 3

Referee: Karl Dickson (ENG)

AR1: Luke Pearce (ENG)

AR2: Andrew Jackson (ENG)

TMO: Tom Foley (ENG)

302: La Rochelle v Leinster wrap

10 December 2023; Ciarán Frawley of Leinster kicks a penalty during the Investec Champions Cup match between La Rochelle and Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
@harpinonrugby

Our LARvLEI wrap now available on Apple, Spotify, etc #rugbytiktoks🏉 #irishtiktok #LeinsterRugby

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

🏉 Il pleut beaucoup

🏉 Carley & CoCaptains

🏉 A Battle Of Wills

🏉 LAR leadership vacuum

🏉 Frawley’s Buzzer Beaters

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICH MIFSUD & TOM COLEMAN

FULL TIME TAKES

Conor Cronin

Away in France to the reigning champs and we finally get it right! I couldn’t be happier to see the team finally figure out how to get the better of them. Delighted to see the only try scored is Larmour, he’s had a tough couple of years.

No trick plays, no bounce off the ball stuff, and no situation where the ref was clearly biased towards us. We beat them fair and square.

The future is bright at 10, the squad will take a lot from this and fingers crossed no major injury concerns as we prepare for Saturday

Chris McDonnell

Fantastic result, can’t fault anything on the pitch. Onwards and upwards.

Greg Kelly

Really well fought win. I seem to remember LAR struggling in similar conditions last year against Ulster. Byrne was pretty solid in what he did and Frawley fronted up well on a difficult night. Certainly a big weekend in the post Johnny period in blue and green.

Bert McLoughlin

What was best about today’s performance was the hunger to make dominant tackles and be physical in poor conditions. That hunger will make us strong contenders this season. No signs of a wc hangover

Gavin Hegarty

To me Byrne stood up when asked and frawley did the same. We’re good @10 for a few years!

Hats off to connors, he delivered and then some. Epic performance.

We had some unleinster mistakes but we’ll learn as the game evolves. Porter was constantly talking to the ref, this I like.

I did not like the ref telling ringer he won’t talk to Ryan but fear this is a result of ‘co’ captains. We need to sort thst.

William Andrew

Appalling display by the Ref, looked like he was been coached by LR. Said it twice to them but still did nothing to shut them up.

Honestly Refs need to realise a big scrum can actually bring a scrum down and play the odds like they play the red zone odds.

Jamie Donohoe

Very proud of that very courageous performance in those conditions. And i thought the Ref handled the game well too

Get in the conversation yourself by leaving 

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FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

[this week’s Front Five segment is over on our YouTube channel]

1  Bath 37-14 Ulster: Bath come from behind to secure bonus-point win in pool opener – BBC Sport [Matt Gault]

2  Heffernan: Connacht didn’t deliver against Bordeaux (rte.ie) [Michael Glennon]

3  Jackman Hits On Munster Issue Exposed In Disappointing Bayonne Draw | Balls.ie [Colman Stanley]

4  ‘You appreciate you’re a person first, not a rugby player first’ – Ryan Baird (the42.ie) [Rebecca Dollard] 

5  Irish Rugby | Parsons Shines As Ireland Women Claim Seventh Spot In Cape Town

CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

ROUND 1

CONNACHT 5-41 BORDEAUX

GLASGOW 19-28 NORTHAMPTON

TOULON 18-19 EXETER

TOULOUSE 52-7 CARDIFF

BATH 37-14 ULSTER

BULLS 27-16 SARACENS

MUNSTER 17-17 BAYONNE

BRISTOL 36-34 LYON

SALE SHARKS 28-5 STADE FRANCAIS

LEICESTER TIGERS 35-26 STORMERS

LA ROCHELLE 9-16 LEINSTER

RACING 92 28-31 HARLEQUINS

ROUND 2

FRI DEC 15

NORTHAMPTON V TOULON

BAYONNE V GLASGOW WARRIORS

SAT DEC 16

SARACENS V CONNACHT

STORMERS V LA ROCHELLE

BORDEAUX V BRISTOL BEARS

LYON V BULLS

LEINSTER V SALE SHARKS

CARDIFF V BATH

ULSTER V RACING 92

SUN DEC 17

EXETER CHIEFS V MUNSTER

HARLEQUINS V TOULOUSE

STADE FRANCAIS V LEICESTER TIGERS

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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AT ELVERYS

301 : #LARvLEI preview

OUR GUEST : NEIL ‘KEEGO’ KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose (cc) 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Harry Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (cc) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Will Connors 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Josh van der Flier 21. Ben Murphy 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Charlie Ngatai

La Rochelle : 15 Brice Dulin 14 Dillyn Leyds 13 Ulupano Seuteni 12 Jonathan Danty 11 Jules Favre 10 Antoine Hastoy 9 Tawerra Kerr-Barlow

1 Reda Wardi 2 Pierre Bourgarit (Cap) 3 Uini Atonio 4 Thomas Lavault 5 Will Skelton 6 Paul Boudehent 7 Levani Botia 8 Yoan Tanga

16 Sacha Idoumi 17 Joel Sclavi 18 Georges-Henri Colombe Reazel, 19 Ultan Dillane 20 Rémi Picquette 21 Judicaël Cancoriet 22 Teddy Iribaren 23 Hugo Reus

Investec Champions Cup 23/24 Round 1

Sunday, December 10, 2023

KO 3:15pm Stade Marcel Deflandre

TV : TNT Sports 1

Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng)

AR 1: Hamish Smales (Eng)

AR 2: Paul Dix (Eng)

TMO: Andrew Jackson (Eng)

253 : HCC final & 22/23 season wrap

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN & MARK JACKSON

FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

The true impact of James Ryan on this team is now fully understood. Better team over 80 minutes won, without Ryan we had no answer to Skelton, ref had a good game. This was the 2011 final won for a second star by a team dead and buried after the first quarter. Jack Conan was again superb.

Andrew Bailey

Hugely disappointing. 17 points up and we stoped playing. Signs of panic Kicked so much ball away. Hard to see how this team progresses .Winning by 40 points each week is no preparation

Christy O’Connor

Sometimes teams need to win ugly and grind a result, Leinster need to learn how to do this. No point taking a big lead and not knowing how to defend it

James Griffin (Munster fan)

Hard luck Leinster folks. That was some start but LaR ground their way back in and then strangled Leinster with their power. I think they were helped in that by James Ryan’s absence (physicality and leadership), kicks out on the full, a blocked attempted clearance, some needless penalties / cards, and some wayward long kicking back to them. The slowdown in tempo from Q2 onwards helped LaR but hindered Leinster. Can’t understand why there wasn’t a drop goal attempt at the end; a try wasn’t needed at that stage.

Aidan O’Leary

We missed Sexton the leader as much as the player today.

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS ARE

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252 : Harpin’ Preview Show – Champions’ Cup Final

OUR GUESTS : NEIL ‘KEEGO’ KEEGAN & CIAN ‘RUGBY KINO’ O’MUILLEOIR

Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jimmy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ross Molony 5. James Ryan > CAPTAIN 6. Caelan Doris 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Ryan Baird 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Charlie Ngatai 

Stade Rochelais : 15 B Dulin 14 D Leyds 13 UJ Seuteni 12 J Danty 11 R Rhule 10 A Hastoy 9 T Kerr Barlow

1 R Wardi 2 P Bourgarit 3 U Atonio 4 R Sazy 5 W Skelton 6 P Boudehent 7 L Botia 8 G Alldritt (c)

16 Q Lespiaucq Brettes 17 J Sclavi 18 G Henri Colombe 19 T Lavault, 20 R Bourdeau 21 U Dillane 22 T Berjon 23 J Favre

Heineken Champions Cup 2022/23

FINAL

Sat May 20 KO 4:45pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Ref: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

AR1: Karl Dickson (England)

AR2: Christophe Ridley (England)

TMO: Tom Foley (England)

Live on: RTÉ2, BT Sport 2, ITV1