Ronan O’Gara has claimed Leinster will not “want or need sympathy” in the wake of their Champions Cup final loss – before adding the defeat would hang around “like a bad smell” until they get over the winning line. Leo Cullen’s men came agonisingly close to a first European success since 2019 against Toulouse last weekend, but ran out of gas in an energy-sapping decider which went into extra time. Much has been said and written about the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium disappointment given that it marked Leinster’s third-straight loss in the final of European rugby’s premier competition, but O’Gara does not believe the Blues will be needing or wanting sympathy.
The La Rochelle head coach masterminded final victories over Leinster in 2022 and 2023, and while he admitted it was hard not to empathise with their plight, he outlined that sympathy was not something Cullen and Co would be seeking. ‘Only a dead person wouldn’t empathise and anyone who has operated at the elite levels of sport could only sympathise,’ he wrote in the Irish Examiner . ‘Though not for long.
Why? Because Leo and Leinster don’t want or need our sympathy. ‘These are professionals at the sharp end of their business, and their business is winning trophies. ‘Insofar as we can employ a comparison, this was Ireland’s World Cup quarter-final last autumn against the All Blacks.
The only thing that mattered was getting over the line. The hows and the whys are for the commentariat.’ A.
