Leinster star Garry Ringrose does not regret backing his side by opting to go for touch late on in their 27-26 defeat to La Rochelle in the Champions Cup final.
Ringrose’s side started the game sensationally and shot to a 17-0 lead after three fast tries before the French powerhouse found their feet in the game and started putting their comeback together.
Big decision
The second half was a fantastic battle that saw Leinster lose their lead. With only a few minutes left the Irish side had a penalty in kickable range but Ringrose, who took over the captaincy after James Ryan left the field, opted to go for touch and try to bury the game.
La Rochelle did very well to defend the onslaught and ultimately came out victorious. The centre underlined that he backed Ross Byrne’s gut.
“With regards to Ross, there’s always an option there [to kick for the posts],” said Ringrose.
“I’d have 100% trust in his feeling, on the spot. You’ve seen him in big games get big kicks from there. I trust his gut.
“We backed ourselves to see if we could make it [with the attacking lineout].”
Tough to take
Meanwhile, star flank Josh van der Flier admitted he is very disappointed with the result but credited La Rochelle for their performance in a tight final.
“Unbelievably disappointed,” Van der Flier said. “Such great support, all our family and friends, it’s heartbreaking really.
“Years of work goes into getting a team that’s good enough to get here and it’s incredibly disappointing.
“We have to give credit to La Rochelle, their third final in a row and they won again today. Unbelievably heartbroken, really.
“It was a good start, we probably struggled in the second half, we didn’t quite get going and they put a lot of pressure on us.
“We weren’t good enough to get it done, very disappointing and we’ll learn a lot but it feels too late now and it’s pretty disappointing.”
“Incredibly proud of the lads, we fought so hard and a few moments didn’t go our way, especially in the second half.
“You have to give a huge amount of credit to so many lads, like Johnny [Sexton] as an example, not there today, who played a huge part in Leinster getting to finals and winning finals over the year.”
READ MORE: Champions Cup: La Rochelle fight back from 17 points down to beat Leinster and defend title
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