Raymond Rhule: 'We're the head that everyone wants to cut off'

La Rochelle wing Raymond Rhule has fired a warning shot to anyone who thinks the European champions will take their foot off the pedal this season.

Ronan O'Gara's side begin the hunt for three in a row in the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday, when they renew rivalries with Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

It's the fourth season in a row that the pair have met in this competition with the French side winning all three, including back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023.

A Champions Cup three-in-a-row has only been done once before, with Toulon's iconic team of 2013-15 completing that feat.

And Rhule says La Rochelle still have plenty of their story left to tell.

"I think we're more focused on building the legacy, and then, after a couple of years, being able to look back, rather than trying to get too much ahead of ourselves and pat your back prematurely," the South African wing told RTÉ Sport.

"I think we understand we have something special, but we’re still busy writing our own legacy, or putting it together.

"The support we get from the city itself and the fans, sometimes it's not always going well, but they stick it out, and they understand, and we understand that it’s bigger than us. Everyone looks forward to celebrating. One doesn’t always get it right but in the last two seasons we’ve been able to do that.

"When I first got to La Rochelle, the older guys who had been here who had won the ProD2 said the one thing that they all wanted was for us to have that feeling of bringing everyone to the port and celebrating something, and we’ve been able to do that twice."

While La Rochelle have reached three European finals on the trot and won two of them, their lack of silverware domestically is keeping them honest.

Their Champions Cup