It was shock and awe from Leinster yesterday as they stormed to a 40-13 victory over old foes La Rochelle in the Aviva Stadium to book themselves a spot in the Champions Cup semi-final.
The quarter-final was the reignition of a four-year rivalry that had seen Leinster and La Rochelle clash four times in the Champions Cup knockout stages, with yesterday being Leinster's first win of the four.
While much has been made of what Leinster did to turn their fortunes and rid themselves of their La Rochelle hoodoo, one incident involving Will Connors shows exactly what Leinster did to combat one of La Rochelle's biggest threats.
Under Ronan O'Gara, La Rochelle have become one of the most physical teams in European Rugby - something they traded on to win back-to-back Champions Cups. While previously Leinster couldn't live with the intensity, that all changed yesterday when a fresh Jacques Nienaber defensive system saw Leo Cullen's men dominate and contain La Rochelle's heavy hitters.
13 April 2024; Will Connors of Leinster during the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final match between Leinster and La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Will Connors' altercation shows Leinster's Physicality
Considering La Rochelle's reputation for the 'dark arts' at ruck time, and the strength of their heavy-hitting back row, the always clever duo of Will Connors and Jason Jenkins got the nod to start ahead of Josh Van Der Flier and Ross Molony yesterday.
While Jenkins and Connors' proved well-able for La Rochelle's antics, Connors paid the price for his ferocity when Levani Botia didn't take too kindly to attempts to hold him into a ruck.
Connors within the laws keeping LAR7 in the ruck here, no? "Unnecessary roughness", to borrow a phrase ... #LEIvLAR @Murray_Kinsella pic.twitter.com/8ZIRpIcD3p
— pluincee (@pluincee) April 13, 2024
The ferocity from Connors and Leinster's pack had new coach Jacques Nienaber written all over it. Nienaber who is being credited with masterminding yesterday's win joined Leo Cullen's coaching ticket in Autumn, after winning back-to-back World Cups with South Africa.
While Connors' actions do fall outside the remits of the law, they appear to be a key factor in his selection for Leinster's biggest test yesterday.
As Bernard Jackman put it for the Sunday Independent today, Will Connors was the right man for the job exactly because he was willing to take the punishment from Levani Botia to keep Leinster rolling.
Connors is fearless and he brings a level of physicality and a lack of respect for his own body that has led to him spending a lot of his career recovering from injury. He lost his international and provincial place to Josh van der Flier but that was a horses for courses selection and it made sense.
Whether Cullen and Nienaber will stick with their second-row selection or go with the silkier Van Der Flier for the semi-final against Northampton is yet to be seen, but Connors and Jenkins most definitely stamped their mark on Nienaber's defensive system yesterday.
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