Last-gasp Byrne penalty sees Leinster pip La Rochelle in a classic

The 42 Reports from the Aviva Stadium

Leinster 25

Stade Rochelais 24

MAKE NO MISTAKE, this was a Champions Cup classic. Harry Byrne stole the headlines with the clock in the red to squeeze Leinster to victory after an enthralling battle with Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle.

What a wild, wonderful game of rugby it was. La Rochelle thought they had won it, after they must have thought it had slipped away. But Leinster won it, after they could have been forgiven for thinking it had slipped away from them.

For a pool game, this was a helluva thriller.

There were only two minutes on the clock when Leinster got involved in the first of many scuffles with Will Skelton.

It was Caelan Doris who squared up to the La Rochelle lock, so often Leinster’s chief tormenter, but the McCarthy brothers, Paddy and Joe, charged in to back up their skipper. Joe hauled Skelton to the ground.

You wondered what this said about what lay ahead. Leinster refusing to back down from anything? Or La Rochelle dragging them into a scrap they wouldn’t win?

Well, just eight minutes later, with Leinster having cruised into a slick 12-0 lead, you’d have bet on the former. And when Leinster went 22-17 ahead with nine minutes to go, having seemingly survived an onslaught from La Rochelle, their fans must have believed again.

But Leinster almost lost in the most sickening fashion as Ihaia West scored wide on the right for La Rochelle with four minutes to go. With the game tied up, it all seemed to come down to Nolann Le Garrec’s conversion. The classy La Rochelle scrum-half held his nerve.

Yet Leinster still had time for one last-gasp chance to go down the other end, and when La Rochelle’s discipline slipped, replacement out-half Byrne stepped up to land an excellent penalty from a tough angle to the right of the posts.

Leinster celebrated with utter glee, all the more so because this one nearly got away from them. They even got a try-scoring bonus point here. 

Ronan O’Gara’s men will be truly sickened, having had many near misses close to the Leinster tryline, although the home side’s scramble defence was sensational in denying them on several occasions.

Leinster’s sweeping, scintillating start saw Champions Cup debutant JJ Kenny over for the first of his quickfire double in just the third minute, the wing finishing acrobatically in the left corner after slick handling from Jack Conan, Sam Prendergast, Tommy O’Brien, and Ciarán Frawley.

The home side were in dreamland soon after as Kenny grabbed his second, pouncing upon Rieko Ioane’s blockdown of West after a clever kick down the middle from Prendergast, who converted from wide on the left for 12-0.

At that stage, Leinster fans must have been feeling confident but as they did in the 2023 final at this venue, La Rochelle bounced back impressively and started to pile on the pressure, leading to first-half yellow cards for Leinster’s O’Brien and Joe McCarthy.

But Leinster’s relentless defensive effort limited La Rochelle to just one first-half try through Davit Niniashvili, while they clung on with McCarthy still in the sin bin early in the second.

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The likes of Conan, replacement fullback Andrew Osborne, and Jamison Gibson-Park made brilliant try-saving efforts in defence.

Yet La Rochelle finally cracked Leinster when it was back to 15 v 15, a penalty from La Garrec and West’s converted try sending them 17-12 ahead with a quarter to go.

Cullen’s side bounced back with composure as clinical tries from Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw saw them pull ahead again with nine minutes to go, Conan playing the last pass in both instances.

La Rochelle weren’t finished and when West grabbed his second try and Le Garrec converted for a 24-22 lead with just three minutes left, it looked like Leinster had crumbled.

That wasn’t the case. Once again, as with that first scuffle with Skelton, they refused to back down. 

They marched down into the La Rochelle 22 and when they won a penalty, Byrne was in no doubt about taking the pressure kick. He nailed it.

Leinster scorers:

Tries: JJ Kenny [2], Josh van der Flier, Robbie Henshaw

Conversions: Sam Prendergast [1 from 3], Harry Byrne [0 from 1]

Penalties: Harry Byrne [1 from 1]

Stade Rochelais scorers:

Tries: Davit Niniashvili, Ihaia West [2]

Conversions: Nolann Le Garrec [3 from 3]

Penalties: Nolann Le Garrec [1 from 1]

LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley (Andrew Osborne ’13 (Harry Byrne ’60)); Tommy O’Brien (yellow card ’13), Rieko Ioane, Robbie Henshaw, Joshua Kenny; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park (Luke McGrath ’78); Paddy McCarthy (Jerry Cahir ’43), Dan Sheehan (Rónan Kelleher ’60), Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy (yellow card ’38), James Ryan; Jack Conan (blood – Max Deegan ’47 to ’52), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (captain).

Replacements not used: Diarmuid Mangan, Andrew Sparrow.

STADE ROCHELAIS: Dillyn Leyds; Jack Nowell, Jules Favre (Antoine Hastoy ’17), Simeli Daunivucu, Davit Niniashvili (Nathan Bollengier ’75); Ihaia West, Nolann Le Garrec (Thomas Berjon ’78); Reda Wardi (Louis Penverne ’55), Tolu Latu (Quentin Lespiaucq ’60), Uini Atonio (Aleksandre Kuntelia ’55); Charles Kante Samba, Will Skelton (Kane Douglas ’69); Oscar Jegou, Levani Botia (Kirill Fraindt ’69), Grégory Alldritt (captain).

Referee: Matthew Carley [RFU].

Written by Murray Kinsella and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.