Leinster book high-stakes reunion with La Rochelle as Munster withdraw from Europe – Irish Times

An ailing Munster side bid farewell in the round of 16 for the second year in a row, with a 24-14 loss to Northampton that seemed to signal, at least in part, the end of an era. So Leinster will once again fly the Irish flag in the Champions Cup quarter-finals when they host La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).

After watching their team win 36-22 against Leicester on Saturday night, Leinster season ticket holders will be given a free ticket at 10am on Sunday before match tickets go on sale to the general public at 2pm on Monday. The first option was given. It’s a shame he’s only a week away from the game’s release, but if the Champions Cup quarter-final clash is to be considered a box office success, it’ll be the latest in this nasty rivalry.

This will be the fifth time in the last four seasons that the two have met. La Rochelle won the semi-final three seasons ago, and it follows the previous two finals before Leinster won 16-9 in a rain-soaked game at Stade Marcel Deflandres last December.

Ronan O’Gara has vowed to make Munster’s presence known over the coming week, perhaps playing psychological games, by taking the back-to-back champions directly from South Africa to Cork for this quarter-final. This follows last Saturday’s dramatic 22-21 win over the Stormers in Cape Town.

If Leinster defeat La Rochelle, they will face the winner of the quarter-final match between Northampton and the Bulls in the semi-final at Croke Park. Toulouse defeated Racing 31-7 to book a place in the home quarter-finals against Exeter, while Bordeaux Bagels will face Harlequins.

Ulster won 40-17 in the Challenge Cup round of 16 at Montpellier after French lock Paul Willemse was shown a red card and two team-mates were found guilty. Richie Murphy’s side will play away to Clermont next Saturday at 12:30pm Irish time. Connacht’s reward for a comfortable 40-30 win at Pau on Sunday night is a quarter-final at Benetton next Sunday (12.30pm Irish time).

Speaking about the possibility of avenging defeats in the last two finals, particularly last May’s final at the Aviva, Leo Cullen said: But you have to give it to the opposition as well. The team has vast resources and hires people from all over the world. The quality of players they have is clear and we need to focus on being involved.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want to play against top teams. That’s been the case for the last few seasons, and if you rewind the clock even further 10 years ago, back then Toulon won the European Cup. It was time.

“We have a big game at home against the reigning champions, which is a very exciting challenge and excitement is high.”

Cullen hinted that Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O’Brain could both return to action, and also downplayed Hugo Keenan’s injury, although Ross Byrne picked up an apparent shoulder injury against Leicester. After leaving the stadium, he looked a little uncomfortable.

Munster went head-to-head at a lively Franklin’s Gardens before making sacrifices as the Premiership leaders dropped a more influential bench, particularly 21-year-old two-try scorer George Hendy. As the number of players increased, the virus that plagued the team took its toll. .

In the end, Munster were compensated for their pool defeat with just one win, albeit an impressive win at Toulon, defeat at Exeter, a draw at home to Bayonne and defeat at home to Northampton. Graham Rowntree doesn’t tend to see it that way.

“Hindsight is great. No, I’m not the type to reflect that much. There’s too much in front of me. There’s another big game coming up.

“We got into the round of 16 against the Premiership leaders and played some good rugby. We saw a lot of the best Munster tonight. It just wasn’t good enough.

“I’m not the type to blame myself for what happened or didn’t happen in the pool stages, including, by the way, that very famous win in Toulon. And then we lost the last game against Saints. I’m not the type to look back too much.”

Munster will have a week’s rest ahead of a two-match trip to South Africa for URC matches against the Bulls and Kings.

Asked how he expected his team to respond, Rountree said: “Like we showed last year, like the Munster players are doing. Now, keep driving. . We are solely focused on URC. We will regroup for the flight to Pretoria. There is no problem or concern for anyone to be focused for the rest of the season. There is plenty to play for. .

“We have a motivated group. We have players coming back from internationals. There’s a lot of work to do. Last year we limped into the playoffs on April 22nd, but May 27th. We won on Sunday. Things are progressing as planned!”

Noting that Peter O’Mahony was not only substituted in the 56th minute, but also went straight down the tunnel and did not appear after the game, as the team thanked an estimated 3,500 traveling supporters. It seemed like there was. Simon Zebo may also have played his final game in the competition, where he scored 35 tries, and Joey Carbery, who is bound for Bordeaux Bagels, will also be in a disappointing position, as is probably the case with Antoine Frisch, who declared for France this week. I said goodbye. .

“I’m not going to lie, it’s ongoing,” Rountree said, hinting that Frisch could leave this summer despite having one more year on his contract. “We’ll see how it plays out, but his game hasn’t changed and his focus hasn’t moved away from the job at hand. We’ll see how it plays out. Let’s.”

Investec Champions Cup Quarterfinals (all Ireland)

April 13th (Sat): QF4 Union Bordeaux Bagels (4) v Harlequins (5), Stade Chaban Delmas, 3.0; QF2 leinster (2) v La Rochelle (10), Aviva Stadium, 5.30 (RTÉ/TNT); QF3 Northampton (3) vs. Bulls (6), Franklin’s Gardens, 8.0. Sunday April 14th: QF1 Toulouse (1) vs. Exeter Chiefs (8), Stade Ernesto Wallon, 3.0.

Semi-finals (May 3rd to 5th): SF1 QF1 winner vs QF4 winner; SF2 QF2 winner vs QF3 winner. The match will be played in Europe, with the highest placed club in the pool stage gaining advantage for their home country.

Finals: Saturday, May 25th: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, 2.45.

Challenge Cup Quarterfinals (both Ireland)

Friday 12th April: QF 2: Gloucester (2) v Ospreys (7), Kingsholm, 8.0. Saturday, April 13th: QF 1: Sharks (1) v Edinburgh Rugby (8), Kings Park, 12.30; QF4: Clermont Auvergne (4) v Ulster (12)Stade Marcel Michelin, 12.30 (TNT). April 14th (Sun): QF3 Benetton (3) v connachtStadio di Monigo (12.30).

Semi-finals (May 3rd to 5th): SF1 QF1 winner vs QF4 winner. SF2 QF2 winner vs QF3 winner. Matches will be played in Europe, with the top-placed club in the pool stage gaining home venue advantage.

Last episode: Friday, May 24th: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, 8.0.

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