Special envoy to Marseilles.
Still on the last step. By reaching the Champions Cup final for the second year in a row, Stade Rochelais has confirmed that it has definitely joined the big leagues. Of those who matter. But the hardest part begins. Win in Marseille against the formidable Leinster armada from Dublin to win a first major title (kick-off 5:45 p.m., on France 2 and beIN). Last year, the Maritimes experienced a double disappointment, losing the European Cup and Top 14 finals to Toulouse each time. “We learned that reaching the final is not an end, confides Grégory Alldritt, number 8 of the XV of France. It was almost a surprise to reach the final at Twickenham. We did not expect it, it was wonderful. But I still have the image of Toulouse lifting the cup in front of us. That has really been our motivation all season. We don’t want to taste defeat again. We’ve been talking all week about how to lift that cup.”
The time has therefore come to conclude after three lost finals (also with the 2019 Challenge Cup in front of Clermont), to finally concretize this rise in power. The lessons of the past have been learned, we are assured. “This year, we know what awaits us. We are more at ease, more relieved. We feel privileged to be in this situation, ”says third line Wiaan Liebenberg. And opener Ihaia West to press: “Ronan O’Gara knows what happened in the two finals last year when we weren’t there mentally. He gives us a lot of confidence. And we have nothing to lose against Leinster…”
This last step nevertheless seems enormous as Jonathan Sexton and his teammates have impressed throughout the season. Crushing Montpellier (admittedly overhauled) during the group stage (89-7), then winning with authority in the quarterfinals at Leicester (14-23), leader of the English championship. Before correcting, after an almost perfect match, Stade Toulousain (40-17) to reach the final. Dublin players are aiming for a fifth star to equal Toulouse’s record. Impressive steamroller who scored… 49 points on average this season! “We have a plan, (re) assures the Irish manager of Stade Rochelais, Ronan O’Gara. We all need to believe that it is possible to win. We prepared very seriously so as not to have any regrets after the match. We also have to show our best face and I think we are capable of doing that. A former icon of Munster, O’Gara would see himself stopping the cold triumphal march of his hereditary enemies from Leinster.
Among the reasons to believe it, the Maritimes can remember that they were the last team to bend the Leinstermen on the European scene. It was last year in the semi-finals, and the band of Skelton, Atonio and other colossi had marched on the Irish, with a pack of beastly power. Same tactics this Saturday at the Stade-Vélodrome? “The easy thing to say is stop Leinster. But, afterwards, we will have to impose our game on them, ”explains O’Gara.
Avoid being pressured by the event, which paralyzed La Rochelle last year. “We had not been good under pressure, me in particular, recognizes the opener Ihaia West, who had experienced too much waste in his kicking game (5/10 in the two finals). Both times, the team had not played its game. Serious growth test against Leinster. But Ronan O’Gara assures him: “Great players do not repeat the same faults.” The time has come to prove it.
