"Obviously, this final would have been different if it had been Munster, but at the same time it's a big competitor, commented O'Gara on Monday at a press conference. Leinster is a team against whom I played a lot of matches as a player (with Munster from 1997 to 2013, editor's note), whom I respect a lot, who is super strong at the moment".
"If you spend your whole life in Cork (province of Munster, editor's note), you like to win against them and it's the opposite for them. It's normal, there is a big rivalry between Munster and Leinster It's a bit like Paris and Marseille in football, a real rivalry. But that's all over, today I'm the coach of Stade Rochelais with a great opportunity to win this final and that's very cool,” he continued.
"When Ronan plays against the Irish teams, it adds more difficulties but also excitement, said South African third line Wiaan Liebenberg. He looks for faults against these teams. He understands their situation very well. mentality, the way they play, he's always looking for opportunities, how we can attack them and he loves that. I think he loves those big moments and he lives for those moments."
To best prepare for this final against Leinster, impressive in the semi-final against Toulouse (40-17), O'Gara also relied on the video of the victory of the Maritimes against the teammates of Jonny Sexton (32-23) , last season in the European Cup.
"Of course we looked at some images of (this) semi-final last year but that was twelve months ago, recalled the Irish technician. They have made a lot of progress in their game and so have we. At the same time , it will give us a lot of confidence but I prefer that we focus on our game, and sort things out".
Saturday at the Vélodrome stadium, "it's up to us to impose our game and afterwards it will be important to occupy and play in the real zones. When they arrive in our 22 meters, it's a difficult team to stop, they are super strong in their structure so before that, we will have to control the ball well“, he warned.
© 2022 AFP