La Rochelle star Dillyn Leyds claims head coach Ronan O’Gara’s obsession with winning has changed the mindset of the club.
The South African has been at the French side since 2020 and has seen how the coach has shifted the mindset, with the Irishman having taken over around a similar time.
O’Gara has turned La Rochelle into a European heavyweight as they contest their third consecutive final but this time round they look to defend their title against the same finalists at last season, Leinster.
Winning edge
Leyds underlines that it starts with O’Gara, who has brought a sharp and competitive edge to the squad, when it is required.
“I think everyone in the rugby world knows that ROG is the kind of guy who always wants to win,” Leyds said. “Every little thing, every small detail, nothing is not important to him.
“That’s what he has brought to this club. All we want to do is win and have that feeling every single time.
“Whether it’s a little battle in training or whether it’s getting into the kick-chase line or something like that – I think that’s the kind of mindset that he has brought here.
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“Yes, we can have fun as a group off the field, there are certain times that we can joke and have a laugh, but when it’s time to do your job, do your job, and do it to the best of your ability.
“The direction the club is going now, you can see the kind of players we are attracting, guys want to be a part of this, and he (O’Gara) has obviously done a hell of a lot for the club.
“The players and everyone involved really enjoyed working with him.
“He has obviously a long-term deal to stay with the club, so hopefully as a group we can continue to work hard, not just for him, but for each other, and hopefully put the club in a position where we can continue to win trophies.”
Replay of last season’s final
Last year’s final was fiercely contested between Leinster and La Rochelle with a late Arthur Retiere try separating the teams.
Leyds expects the Irish province to be out to get La Rochelle and expects a difficult game. Leinster will be even more desperate to get their hands on a trophy after their shock semi-final loss to Munster in the United Rugby Championship semi-final last weekend.
“I won’t say it’s a bit of revenge but from Leinster’s point of view I think this is the perfect final for them, having another shot at us,” said Leyds.
“We’re the defending champions and we want to go out there firing shots as well. Last year we wanted to take the initiative and play and not wait for them to come at us and realise, ‘we’re 14 points down, now we’ve got to start playing rugby’.
“We know they are a team that starts really quick and we want to make sure that we match them. If they are going to come out of the blocks firing, we don’t want to be looking up at the scoreboard after five minutes in Dublin and we’re chasing the game already.
“We saw in that semi-final against Toulouse how quickly they got out of the blocks and from there on Toulouse were chasing the game.
“Last year gives us a lot of confidence that we can break them but we also know that they have the ability to do the same to us. We’ve worked a hell of a lot on our defence and our all-round game and it came together perfectly in the semi-final against Exeter.
“Although we leaked a couple of points towards the end of the match, lack of concentration on a few small things, we fired shots and that’s what we’ve go to do this weekend.
“It’s going to be the complete opposite environment to what we had in Bordeaux for our semi-final.
“We are going to have 50-odd thousand people against us instead of with us so if we are going to wait for something to happen or someone to take the initiative individually, we’re not going to be executing the plan we want to.”
It is almost time for the two giants to slog it out in Dublin this weekend with the winner walking away as the champions of Europe.
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