Leinster maintain winning run with La Rochelle victory

Pool 2 of the Investec Champions Cup

La Rochelle (6) 14

Try: Leyds Pens: Hastoy (3)

Leinster: (10) 16

Leinster won the Investec Champions Cup 16-14 to move up to the top of Pool 2 for the 12th consecutive win in a row.

Joe McCarthy’s well-taken try gave Leinster the lead at the break despite the hosts dominating the first half at the Stade Marcel Deflandre.

Sam Prendergast’s penalties gave La Rochelle a lead, but La Rochelle retaliated through Dillyn Leyds.

La Rochelle are sixth in the Top14 but raised their game for the visit of Leinster, who they beat in the 2022 and 2023 Champions Cup finals.

After three minutes, Antoine Hastoy kicked a penalty after Leinster had veered offside to set up the game.

Leo Cullen’s side were then forced to defend deep after Sam Prendergast scored a penalty for Leinster on 11 minutes.

Leinster were forced to put on a physical La Rochelle side for the majority of the opening 30 minutes by camping in their own 22.

Despite their dominance, O’Gara’s men had to wait until the 26th minute to regain the lead with Hastoy kicking another penalty.

However, that advantage would be short lived as a rare foray forward led to Leinster scoring the first try in the opening period of play at the half-hour mark.

Ryan Baird fed Jamie Osborne before finding a play through Joe McCarthy, who crossed with Prendergast before turning the ball over to him.

Leinster had a good possession flurry following that attempt, but they were frightened four minutes later.

La Rochelle had won 19 of their previous 21 games away from home, with Leinster taking the latter of these two defeats last year in the pool portion of the competition.

Cullen’s side won 16-9, knowing they would have to hold on to their La Rochelle victory in France.

After the restart, Leinster soaked up some early pressure before quickly increasing their lead with two Prendergast penalties.

Hastoy had a penalty for La Rochelle, but he made amends with a second kick a few minutes later.

The hosts then cut Leinster’s lead to two points through Dillyn Leyds ‘ try on 65 minutes.

Hastoy was unable to add the extras after Leyds successfully intercepted his excellent cross-field kick, which he had to kick past Ciaran Frawley before diving on it.

As they both missed penalties, Ross Byrne and Jordie Barrett wasted opportunities to increase Leinster’s lead to five.

Before Josh van der Flier’s game-winning drop goal, which Leinster drew from their luck to earn a two-point victory, Hastoy rattled the post once more with a penalty in the final minute of normal time.

Replacements: Clavier, Nail, Garnier, Marchais, Boichot, Kamoto, Thomas, Obiang Hguema.

Leinster: Barrett, J O’Brien, Ringrose, Henshaw, J Osbourne, Prendergast, Gibson-Park, Healy, Kelleher, Furlong, J McCarthy, Ryan, Baird, van der Flier, Doris (capt).