Heineken Champions Cup final preview: La Rochelle and Leinster do battle in Marseille

The biggest competition in European club rugby draws to a close this weekend with the final of the Heineken Champions Cup as La Rochelle take on Leinster in Marseille. Both sides have impressed in this year’s tournament, but who will come out on top?

Here’s our preview ahead of Saturday’s encounter.

Leinster striving for history

In a year where France and Ireland battled it out for the Six Nations, it’s fitting that this year’s Heineken Champions Cup final will also be contested by two teams from those nations. Leinster are striving to equal Toulouse’s record of five Champions Cup titles and if the odds are anything to go by, they are set to do it with relative ease. They are just 2/9 for victory in Marseille and it’s not hard to see why with a squad full of quality and experience featuring the likes of Johnny Sexton and Cian Healy.

An impressive run to the final has seen Leinster despatch Connacht, Premiership leaders Leicester and the reigning Heineken Champions Cup holders Toulouse. Leinster have impressed in all three ties, with the 40 points they put past Toulouse in the semi-final the second-highest tally a team has ever registered at that stage of the competition. They look a side with few weaknesses and it’s unsurprising then that they lead the competition in carries (876), running metres (6,518m), line breaks (70) and defenders beaten (203).

They look the rightful favourites at 2/9 with the handicap set at 11 points. Leinster are Evens to win by 12 points or more.

La Rochelle hoping to go one better than 2021

La Rochelle will be taking part in their second consecutive Heineken Champions Cup final and will be aiming to go one better than at Twickenham last time around where they lost to Toulouse.

They have already proven themselves as one of the very few teams in club rugby capable of beating Saturday’s opponents, being the only side that Leinster have lost to over the course of the last two Heineken Champions Cup campaigns. The French side are the 4/1 outsiders to pull off another shock again.

Looking back on last year’s encounter and while Leinster dominated in terms of number of carries and running metres, La Rochelle still managed to have an advantage in certain key areas. They bettered Leinster in terms of defenders beaten, line breaks and also in turnovers won, so there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic ahead of this weekend’s match.

If they stand a chance of beating the Irish province again, La Rochelle will need to frustrate their potent attack, while at the same time breaching their sturdy defence. It won’t be easy as Leinster’s outstanding defensive numbers this season show, but they’ve proven they can do it in the past. Coach Ronan O’Gara has shown he can mastermind a perfect gameplan before and he’ll need to do that again.

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