French giants La Rochelle send World Cup message by unpicking Ireland’s best

Plenty of weighty questions will continue to hang in the Dublin air in the months ahead after the stunning Champions Cup final between La Rochelle and Leinster on Saturday. An official investigation has already been opened into a reported altercation in the tunnel at half-time but the implications of what unfolded on the field could prove even more significant in the medium term.

Not only was this one of the most compelling modern rugby spectacles imaginable – up there with the thunderous second Test between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions in Pretoria in 2009 – but it also detonated a heap of received wisdom. Ireland’s best players, grand slam champions in March, have now been unpicked on their home pitch in front of their own fans less than four months before the Rugby World Cup. Meanwhile Stade Rochelais, driven on by their resident Irish guru, Ronan O’Gara, continue to elevate the game to another level in terms of power, passion and regional pride. Good luck to anyone seeking a quiet contemplative harbourside drink in La Rochelle in the coming days.

As the latest raucous celebrations on the Atlantic coast unfolded, it felt reasonable to wonder how many sides anywhere could have withstood the giant yellow sledgehammer that, from 17-0 down after 12 minutes, eventually secured a 27-26 comeback triumph and a second successive Champions Cup for O’Gara’s mighty crew. Leinster were irresistible in that first quarter and yet still ended up crushed by the most formidable European force there has possibly ever been. Big is not always beautiful in rugby but it was the case here.

It is not just that Will Skelton (who has now shared in three Champions Cup wins in five seasons), Jonathan Danty, Uini Atonio and Levani