Leinster............................. 40pts
Tries: Lowe 16, 60; Gibson-Park 37, Baird 42, Sheehan 56
Conversions: Byrne 18, 38, 43
Penalties: Byrne 7, 27, 31
La Rochelle.......................13pts
Tries: Penverne 43
Conversions: Hastoy 44
Penalties: Hastoy 19, 28
CHAMPIONS La Rochelle – travel sore but also far from their best this season – were unceremoniously dumped from this season’s Championship Cup as Leinster took revenge against their conquerors in the last two finals.
Leinster went up a couple of gears from their Round of 16 win over Leicester and outplayed La Rochelle in just about every department in front of an appreciative capacity crowd at the Aviva.
La Rochelle haven’t been great starters this season and after a long trip to Cape Town for the Round of 16 last week and then the even longer return journey to Ireland this week they were disastrously slow out of the blocks this time round.
Leinster, with so much revenge and beef in this game, were however in the zone and built their lead steadily with three first-half penalties from Ross Byrne who was striking the ball beautifully and two converted tries, although in truth Leinster also butchered a couple of other chances.
The Leinster tries were well deserved and hard won, with the first coming from the busy James Lowe on the left wing after a multi-phase attack that spread the ball from one touchline to the other and then back. La Rochelle weren’t happy with Byrne’s final tap on pass which looked forward but officialdom was unmoved.
There was also, outwardly, a degree of doubt with their second try, from Jamison Gibson-Park, but on this occasion referee Karl Dickson and his assistants were vindicated in their decision making. Lowe broke down the blindside and as the defence closed in he executed an out-the-back one-handed flip pass to his scrum-half.
In the blurr of action the ball went forward but what the naked eye missed initially was that having gone out of his hands legally, the ball then bounced forward off Gibson-Park’s shoulder – also legal – before the Kiwi gathered the ball and sprinted home.
