Ronan O'Gara's decision to bring the La Rochelle squad to Cork for the week has only ramped up the excitement for Saturday's headline clash with Leinster in the Aviva Stadium.
When the draw was set for the Champions Cup knockout stage, one obvious tie jumped out - the potential rematch of the last two finals between ROG's defending champions La Rochelle and Leinster.
After both sides came through their last 16 assignments, the date was set - and O'Gara had the La Rochelle squad head straight to Cork for a week of preparations before Saturday night's game in Dublin.
Having faced the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday, it has already been a lot of travel for the European champions, but the week in Cork appears to have done them good. Assistant coach Donnacha Ryan spoke earlier this week on how the squad have enjoyed the support of the locals - of course, fans of Leinster's bitter rivals Munster.
O'Gara has now spoken publicly about his experiences back home with the La Rochelle squad - and said that the players were particularly struck by the local music scene on their night out on the town on Wednesday.
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Ronan O'Gara says La Rochelle squad were enamoured by Cork trad sessions
The Irish Examiner shared a video interview with O'Gara on Thursday morning, reflecting on the first few days of his week back home with the La Rochelle squad.
📍 Training @CorkConRugbyFC
📍 Trad music @SinCork
📍 Recovery @FotaIsland
Ronan O'Gara on a 'powerful' week back home in Cork with his La Rochelle squad ahead of this weekend's Champions Cup clash against Leinster.
Watch the full conversation: https://t.co/b9OxPPg59B pic.twitter.com/Vlm3Vpqewm— Irish Examiner Sport (@ExaminerSport) April 11, 2024
The former Ireland out-half said that he had been hoping for a long time to bring the players back to his home county, and that they enjoyed a relaxed evening on the town earlier this week.
O'Gara revealed that the live trad music in the Cork city pubs was what had "fascinated" the La Rochelle squad the most:
Yeah we did, sure that's what it's about.
We had a great meal in Isaac's and then we went to the Cork Arms, Sin é and one or two other spots. We got well looked after.
The boys were fascinated by the live trad sessions. It's good that they're seeing Cork in its finest lights.
The image of Uini Atonio and Gregory Alldritt tapping their feet to some delightful live trad music is not one we had previously envisioned, we'll be honest. Judging by previous videos on social media of trad sessions from Sin É, they went to the right place to experience it.
Sin E #Trad 💚 @SinCork #Cork pic.twitter.com/0jX1EdcRlH
— Margaret O'Connell🌻 (@MargaretOC6) November 25, 2023
Time will tell if the week of preparations in the rebel county will ultimately deliver a fourth consecutive knockout victory for La Rochelle over Leinster, but it certainly seems to have done no harm for team morale.
Head coach Ronan O'Gara said that he was delighted that his fellow Corkonians had welcomed the La Rochelle group with open arms, and that it had meant a lot to him to receive that warm welcome back "home":
We are very privileged. We enjoy what we do. We represent Stade Rochelais.
I come from Cork, I'm very proud of that, I had the best years of my life playing in a Munster, an Ireland, a Lions jersey. We're back home here to prepare for a game where we have a good chance of progressing. We've achieved a remarkable run of victories in knockout rugby. We want that to continue.
We've been blown away by the support. It's been really surprising and top class meeting all the locals from Cork again. You forget that when you get unfortunately taken into your own little bubble.
It's been an unbelievably powerful week in terms of stirring the emotions, that's for sure.
The significance of Cork as a venue for this training camp is particularly great for O'Gara. Last year, when La Rochelle faced Leinster in the Aviva Stadium for the Champions Cup final, O'Gara was quick to correct the RTÉ hosts for suggesting it was also a "home" final for him. "Home" for O'Gara has always meant Cork.
That final saw La Rochelle complete a dramatic comeback from 17-0 down to claim back-to-back Champions Cup crowns - the first of which was also sealed in dramatic fashion against Leinster in 2022.
Having also been knocked out in the semi-finals by La Rochelle in 2021, there is a serious angle of revenge behind the Leinster preparations for this game.
It is set to be a titanic occasion on Lansdowne Road this weekend. Kick-off from the Aviva Stadium is at 5:30pm on Saturday.
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