Stats & Facts: Leinster v La Rochelle - Champions Cup Final
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Ahead of Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup final between Leinster Rugby and Stade Rochelais, here are some stats and facts ahead of the final.
MATCH DETAILS
LEINSTER RUGBY v STADE ROCHELAIS - Saturday, 28 May 2022
Venue Stade Vélodrome
Kick-off 17:45 (Local, 16:45 UK)
Referee Wayne Barnes (Eng)
Assistant Referee Matthew Carley (Eng)
Assistant Referee Christophe Ridley (Eng)
TMO Tom Foley (Eng)
Citing Commissioner Stefano Marrama (Ita)
• Stade Rochelais are bidding to become the 13th club to be crowned champions of Europe since the tournament’s inception in 1995. If they triumph on Saturday evening, they will be the fourth French club after Stade Toulousain, CA Brive and RC Toulon, to lift the trophy.
• Leinster are aiming to win a fifth Heineken Champions Cup star and to join Stade Toulousain as the most successful club in the tournament’s history.
• This will be just the second meeting between Leinster Rugby and Stade Rochelais in the Heineken Champions Cup, with Stade Rochelais winning their semi-final encounter last season (32-23); it will be the fifth time that an Irish team has faced a TOP 14 club in the final, with Irish sides having won on each of the previous four occasions.
• The clash of Leinster and Stade Rochelais will be the fifth final between clubs from France and Ireland with the Irish having won all four to date (1999, 2006, 2008 and 2018).
• If selected in the match day 23, and if Leinster are successful, Johnny Sexton, Devin Toner, and Cian Healy will become the most decorated players in the tournament’s history by each claiming a fifth winner’s medal. To date, six players have won on four occasions: Cédric Heymans (CA Brive/Stade Toulousain), Fréderic Michalak (Stade Toulousain/RC Toulon) and the Leinster quartet of Sexton, Healy, and Isa Nacewa.
As Leinster go in search of their fifth #HeinekenChampionsCup trophy, we look back at the team that won their first 👇
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) May 26, 2022
• Johnny Sexton has scored the most points of any player in Heineken Champions Cup finals with 68 from five appearances. His total of 28 in Leinster’s dramatic win against Northampton Saints in 2011 has only been surpassed by Diego Dominguez’s metronomic 30 points in Stade Francais Paris’ losing final against Leicester Tigers in 2001.
• The impressive Grégory Alldritt of Stade Rochelais, who has been shortlisted for the European Player of the Year award, leads this season’s statistics in three categories: carries (113), metres (731) and offloads (15).
• Ronan O’Gara, who famously had Heineken Cup success with Munster Rugby in 2006 and 2008, could become the second person to win the title as both player and Head Coach, emulating his opposite number on Saturday, Leo Cullen, who is the only person to have the achieved the feat so far.
• Leinster’s James Lowe, also nominated for European Player of the Year, is the top try scorer in the current campaign with 10 from six appearances, and he needs one more at the Stade Vélodrome on Saturday to equal Chris Ashton’s record of 11 in a season for Saracens in 2013/14.
• Leinster Rugby have won each of their seven matches in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup (excl. cancelled fixtures), including their two fixtures against French opposition; the 40 points they scored against Stade Toulousain in the semi-final was the second-most by any team at that stage of the competition (Saracens, 46 v ASM Clermont Auvergne in 2013/14).
• Stade Rochelais will become the seventh side to feature in consecutive Heineken Champions Cup finals (also CA Brive, Leicester Tigers, Stade Toulousain, Leinster Rugby, RC Toulon and Saracens); they have won two of their previous three games against Irish opposition in the competition (L1), including both matches on French soil.
• Victor Vito, who hangs up his boots at the end of the season, had Super Rugby success with the Hurricanes in 2016 and could become the 12th player to do the Heineken Champions Cup and Super Rugby double if Stade Rochelais win on Saturday.
Victor Vito and Michael Ala'alatoa are on the verge of joining an exclusive #HeinekenChampionsCup club 🏆https://t.co/Se5jeNjSPM
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) May 23, 2022
• Players from eight different countries – Argentina, Australia, Fiji, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Samoa and South Africa – are likely to feature in the final.
• If selected in Leinster’s match day squad, Robbie Henshaw will make his 50th tournament appearance in the final.
• As La Rochelle attempts to win its first EPCR title, four members of the Stade Rochelais tournament squad have already tasted European success. Will Skelton was a Heineken Champions Cup winner with Saracens in 2018, while Jonathan Danty, Jules Plisson and Jérémy Sinzelle were Challenge Cup winners with Stade Francais Paris in 2017.
• The Leinster pair of Ross Molony and Josh van der Flier have the made the most tackles to date this season with 89 apiece.
• As many as 17 of Leinster’s tournament squad are already Heineken Champions Cup winners having been selected in the match day squad for a final: Jack Conan, Seán Cronin, Tadgh Furlong, Jamison Gibson-Park, Cian Healy, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney, Jordan Larmour, Luke McGrath, Rory O’Loughlin, Andrew Porter, Garry Ringrose, Rhys Ruddock, James Ryan, Jonathan Sexton, Devin Toner and James Tracy.
• The Stade Vélodrome will be hosting a European club final for the second time. In 2010, the venue famously set an attendance record of 48,990 for a Challenge Cup final when the Cardiff Blues defeated RC Toulon.
• Stade Rochelais have won 11 of their 12 games in the Heineken Champions Cup since the start of last season (L1, excl. cancelled fixtures), with their only defeat in that spell coming in last season’s final (17-22 v Stade Toulousain); they have scored 30+ points in five of their seven games so far this season.
• Leinster Rugby boast the quickest average ruck speed of any side in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup (2.84s); Stade Rochelais have recorded the best ruck success rate this season (97%) and have the fifth best ruck speed (3.28s).
• Leinster have averaged the most metres (931), line breaks (10) and passes (184) per game in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, while they also boast the best tackle success rate in the competition (91%); Stade Rochelais have recorded the third best tackle success rate (89%).
• Stade Rochelais have spent the highest percentage of time in opposition territory of any club in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup (56%), while Leinster have averaged the most 22 entries of any side (15.1) and recorded the most points per 22 entry (3.26).
Head-to-Head Results
02/05/2021 - Leinster Rugby 32-23 Stade Rochelais
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