Leinster fans have become virtual
cognoscenti of the La Rochelle Squad over the past couple of seasons. However, there's a couple of names which may come under the microscope as the week progresses, but hopefully to be totally forgotten by next Sunday.
The LAR MOTM last Saturday was young flanker
Mathew Haddad-Victor. Not a new name to French rugby followers:
(
https://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/top-14/2 ... tory.shtml)
Haddad-Victor is JVdF in French miniature. As the piece above describes, he burst on the scene as a 17 year-old selected for the French U.20 Squad in 2017-8. At 21, he is in his first full season of Top 14 rugby and last Saturday's performance, which earned him selection in the Midi Olympique team of the week, showed that he is a fast learner who can harass any half-back.
Another name which may be unfamiliar to Leinster followers is
Thomas Berjon. The scrum-half played 65 mins last weekend against Stade and the travelling supporters gave him a rousing reception when he was substituted by former French winger Arthur Retiere (incidentally, the son of a former French scrum Coach).
Berjon has nothing approaching the experience or strength of Kerr-Barlow. But he is a dangerous customer, who has the confidence, and pace, to make destructive breaks off scrum, maul, line-out or breakdown. Not a player to be ignored.
The third LAR player worthy of attention is Brice Dulin's replacement at full-back,
Pierre Popolin. Another low profile player in the relative glare of the Overseas "stars", Poplin is a popular player with LAR fans, many of whom claim he is very under-rated with his attacking style. Not as competent as Dulin under the high ball, he must not however be underestimated.
Having a coffee beside the Bayonne clubhouse is a rugby education. The locals not only know their French rugby but are also familiar with the names of the Leinster players who graced Aviva on Saturday evening in beating Munster 35-25. (They just can't understand how such talented players are satisfied to play understudy in Dublin when they believe they could be Top 14 stars).
Many who watch French rugby believe that if Leinster don't freeze next Saturday, with the weight of expectation, they will beat LAR. Not by many points, but well. They're not as confident about LAR as they were about Stade Toulousain, but now they've seen Leinster in action, they're becoming fans of our style.