Following a 16-14 victory for Leinster over La Rochelle at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre on Sunday, here are our winners and losers from the Investec Champions Cup clash.

Winners

Caelan Doris

An absolutely unbelievable shift from the number eight, who produced an incredible defensive performance throughout the 80 minutes. Everyone loves the barnstorming runs, something which Doris regularly provides, but he also become an absolute master without the ball.

His gamesmanship around the breakdown is always off the scale and you often wonder how he gets away with some of it, but the number eight generally knows how to toe the line. Doris is thriving in the Jacques Nienaber system and he was absolutely crucial to their win in France.

Josh van der Flier

As was Doris’ back-row partner who, like the Ireland captain, was utterly relentless in his work around the field. Defensively, Van der Flier put in a huge shift and quite often got the Leinstermen out of trouble.

That back-row duo perhaps didn’t produce their finest performances in the Autumn Nations Series but they appear to be approaching their best with the Six Nations just around the corner, which will please interim boss Simon Easterby, as well as Lions head coach Andy Farrell.

Jacques Nienaber

There may be criticism over Leinster’s attack but there is no doubt that the double Rugby World Cup winner has created a stingy defence. The Irish province have been absolutely suffocating all season and La Rochelle were another side to fail to really find an answer.

It must be remembered that Leinster were forced into late changes as they rearranged the back three, but it appears as though everyone trusts the system. La Rochelle have some wonderful players but only a piece of Dillyn Leyds brilliance broke that rearguard.

Leyds’ brilliance gave La Rochelle real hope going into the latter stages and they put the visitors under real pressure, but once again that defence held out, which is a credit to the South African and the players.

The Irishmen do need to develop their work with the ball but, when you have that defensive platform, it sets them up nicely for the knockout stages, which will ultimately determine whether their change in strategy is successful.

Jack Nowell

Leyds might have shown the individual quality to score the try, but it was the former England wing who was La Rochelle’s biggest threat during the match. The 31-year-old was always busy and showed both his footwork and s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 level to put La Rochelle in several promising positions..

As mentioned, Leinster’s defence managed to effectively snuff those attacks out, but Nowell was the one player they really struggled to contain. His England career has surely gone now, while a Lions call-up is extremely unlikely but, after a few injury-hit years, it is fantastic to see the win performing at this level.

After Jack Crowley’s mixed display, this was an opportunity for Prendergast to cement the Ireland 10 shirt but, if anything, he left more questions than answers. The 21-year-old exudes confidence and, even when making mistakes, he never looks nervous, but on Sunday his execution was simply lacking on a few occasions.

Prendergast was charged down twice, while in attack he was stood too deep and was duly taken off in the final quarter. However, his replacement, Ross Byrne, was hardly stellar either and missed a simple kick to keep the game in the balance.

Reda Wardi and Uini Atonio

The gargantuan props started off superbly, carrying hard and dominating Cian Healy in the scrum, but they unfortunately suffered injuries and were replaced in the first half. Atonio missed the Autumn Nations Series and it will be a concern for both La Rochelle and France that he went off here.

Atonio in particular did not look in too much discomfort when he was forced off, so hopefully it is nothing too serious, but Fabien Galthie will be a worried Les Bleus head coach. The November series once again showed that their tighthead depth is not the strongest and his availability is vital.

Georges-Henri Colombe

Atonio was replaced by Colombe, who coincidently appeared three times for France off the bench in November, but, as he showed during that series, he can be a liability in the set-piece. He improved later in the match, but a string of penalties conceded after coming on allowed Leinster to move into a 16-6 lead, which La Rochelle were unable to overturn.

Ronan O’Gara

You can’t say that his side didn’t play for him on Sunday, but it is still not the La Rochelle team that won the Champions Cup in 2022 and 2023. They have endured a poor season by their standards in the Top 14 and have lost six of their 14 matches.

There has been little sign of improvement either and the pressure is increasing on O’Gara as a result. The Irishman has always been refreshingly honest in his interviews but you wonder whether at some point the players will get tired of his outbursts, if they haven’t already. There are cracks there and, although they can still be repaired, the situation at La Rochelle is one to be followed closely.