‘From hell to heaven’: French media reacts to La Rochelle’s Champions Cup win over Leinster

“From the toss we were not respected,” screamed the headline on a piece written by Midi Olympique’s Vincent Bissonet as he faithfully quoted La Rochelle captain Greg Alldritt’s revelation about the pregame coin toss.

The number eight claimed that Leinster’s James Ryan had not made eye contact when they shook hands ahead of the ritual.

Alldritt said: “From the toss, already, we were not respected. He [Ryan] didn’t look me in the eye when he shook my hand. And that should not be done. There are a lot of values in our club.”

The Champions Cup final was a belting game of rugby but it seems it wasn’t the end of the colourful clashes as the perceived pre-match slight and a kerfuffle in the tunnel at half-time came to light in the aftermath of La Rochelle’s 27-26 victory.

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Elsewhere on the Midi Olympique website the headline over Clement Labonne’s story proclaimed, “Champions Cup – Suspicion of altercation between Sexton, O’Gara and Skelton at half-time in Leinster – La Rochelle,” before going on to publish an official statement from EPCR that stated the tournament organisers would investigate the incident.

Elsewhere Midi Olympique put forward this theory in headline form: “Is the victory of La Rochelle against Leinster the greatest achievement of a French club?” The answer that Labonne ventured seems to be in the affirmative. He wrote: “La Rochelle supporters have serious arguments to make. Against Leinster, the Maritimes made the second biggest comeback in the final. The Rochelais should never have come back against the Irish steamroller, in their favourite lair.

“But it now appears that La Rochelle’s main rival is Toulon. The Varois remain the only European team to have won the European Cup three times in a row. With two victories against Leinster, where they were led each time and were not favourites, did the Maritimes overtake the Toulonnais?

“The warriors of the harbour no doubt still have a slight head start. It’s up to Rochelais to snag a third star next year to bring the debate to a close.”

In Sud Quest a headline read: “Stade Rochelais in monster mode to overthrow Leinster in Dublin,” and Benjamin Deudon wrote: “The 2022 Champions Cup final was a monument. The 2023 final is like downtown Rome.

“A jewel destined to remain for life in the memories of many. Because the victory of Stade Rochelais in Dublin – in the lair of a Leinster who had not lost there in this competition since September 2020 – marks the history of French sport from his imprint.”

L’Equipe went for “able to wring Leinster three years in a row” and said Gregor Alldritt and Antoine Hastoy had the rage to win over an article that included Leinster player ratings that ranged from Dan Sheehan’s seven and Robbie Henshaw’s six down to the fours and fives doled out to the majority of blue-clad players.

Perhaps Laurent Campistron summed it up most eloquently in the same publication when he wrote under a headline “From Hell to Heaven”: “Who knew hell had an escape too?

“Who could imagine that a French team led 17-0 after 12 minutes of play on the lawn of Leinster, the most pragmatic and surgical team on the planet, would manage to come out of the game more than an hour later with their arms lifted? Who apart from the Rochelais themselves? The scenario for this final was crazy, almost surreal.

“Most Aviva Stadium spectators were beginning to search their cellphones for the biggest winning margin in a Champions Cup final when the Maritimes began to emerge from the waking nightmare that had tormented them relentlessly since the start of the game. But by what miracle?”