2023 European Rugby Champions Cup final

2023 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

Event	2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup
Leinster La Rochelle 26 27
Date	20 May 2023
Venue	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee	Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Weather	Dry with sunny spells

The 2023 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-eighth European club rugby final in general. The final was contested by Leinster and La Rochelle, and a repeat of the 2022 Final which La Rochelle won 24–21.

The Aviva Stadium was the host venue of the final, just the second time it has hosted the game having also been the venue in 2013.

The match referee was Jaco Peyper, the first South African to referee the European showpiece final.

La Rochelle retained the trophy with a 27–26 win over Leinster.

Background

For the first time both finalists from a Champions Cup final returned to the following year's final. La Rochelle became the third team after Toulouse (2003–05) and Toulon (2013–15) to appear in three successive finals, while Leinster, for the second year, attempted to match Toulouse's outright record of five European Champions Cups. This was also the first final since 2011 that matched the top two seeds after the pool stage in the showpiece final.

Both Leinster and La Rochelle entered the final in similar form, with both teams having won every game in their European campaign. They both topped their respective pool, with Leinster gaining a maximum of 20 points and La Rochelle gaining 18. They both received home advantage through the knock-out stage, before gaining home country advantage in the semi-final to see them through to the final.

This was their third meeting in the Champions Cup, with La Rochelle winning both the previous encounters.

Their domestic form saw Leinster enter having lost their United Rugby Championship semi-final the week prior, whilst La Rochelle entered having secured a top two seed in the Top 14 with one round left of the regular season.

Both teams announced their match-day 23 the day before the game and Leinster had two changes to the starting XV that played in the 2022 Final, whilst La Rochelle had seven changes to the team that played in that final.

Route to the final

Further information: 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Leinster		Round	La Rochelle
Opponent	Result	Pool stage	Opponent	Result
Racing 92	10–42 (A)	Matchday 1	Northampton Saints	46–12 (H)
Gloucester	57–0 (H)	Matchday 2	Ulster	29–36 (A)
Gloucester	14–49 (A)	Matchday 3	Ulster	7–3 (H)
Racing 92	36–10 (H)	Matchday 4	Northampton Saints	13–31 (A)
		Final standings
Pool A Top 4 Team P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts Leinster 4 4 0 0 184 34 +150 28 5 4 0 20 Exeter Chiefs 4 3 0 1 139 68 +71 20 8 4 0 16 Sharks 4 3 0 1 119 89 +30 15 11 3 0 15 Saracens 4 3 0 1 120 94 +26 15 11 2 1 15 Pool B Top 4 Team P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts La Rochelle 4 4 0 0 120 57 +63 15 7 2 0 18 Toulouse 4 4 0 0 110 53 +57 12 7 1 0 17 Stormers 4 3 0 1 106 68 +38 13 7 3 0 15 Leicester Tigers 4 3 0 1 116 89 +27 11 10 1 1 14
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Ulster	30–15 (H)	Round of 16	Gloucester	29–26 (H)
Leicester	55–24 (H)	Quarter-finals	Saracens	24–10 (H)
Toulouse	41–22 (H)	Semi-finals	Exeter	47–28 (H)

Match

Leinster

La Rochelle

Details

20 May 2023 16:45 IST (UTC+01)

Leinster	26–27	La Rochelle
Try: Sheehan (2) 1' c, 11' m O'Brien 5' m Con: Byrne (1/3) 2' Pen: Byrne (3/3) 23', 30', 46'	Report	Try: Danty 19' c Seuteni 37' c Colombe 71' c Con: Hastoy (3/3) 20', 38', 72' Pen: Hastoy (2/2) 43', 49'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 51,711 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

FB 15 Hugo Keenan RW 14 Jimmy O'Brien OC 13 Garry Ringrose IC 12 Robbie Henshaw  61' LW 11 James Lowe FH 10 Ross Byrne SH 9 Jamison Gibson-Park  78' N8 8 Jack Conan  59' OF 7 Josh van der Flier BF 6 Caelan Doris RL 5 James Ryan (c)  29' LL 4 Ross Molony TP 3 Tadhg Furlong  44' HK 2 Dan Sheehan  68' LP 1 Andrew Porter  78' Substitutions: HK 16 Rónan Kelleher  71'  68' PR 17 Cian Healy  78' PR 18 Michael Alaalatoa  78'  44' LK 19 Jason Jenkins  29' FL 20 Ryan Baird  59' SH 21 Luke McGrath  78' CE 22 Ciarán Frawley CE 23 Charlie Ngatai  61' Coach: Leo Cullen

FB 15 Brice Dulin RW 14 Dillyn Leyds OC 13 UJ Seuteni IC 12 Jonathan Danty  74' LW 11 Raymond Rhule FH 10 Antoine Hastoy SH 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow 10' to 20' N8 8 Grégory Alldritt (c) OF 7 Levani Botia  69' BF 6 Paul Boudehent  65' RL 5 Will Skelton LL 4 Romain Sazy  50' TP 3 Uini Atonio  59'  78' HK 2 Pierre Bourgarit  65' LP 1 Reda Wardi  59' Substitutions: HK 16 Quentin Lespiaucq  65' PR 17 Joel Sclavi  59' PR 18 Georges-Henri Colombe  59'  78' LK 19 Thomas Lavault  50' FL 20 Rémi Bourdeau  69' LK 21 Ultan Dillane  65' SH 22 Thomas Berjon CE 23 Jules Favre Coach: Ronan O'Gara

Star of the Match: Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle) Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England) Christophe Ridley (England) Television Match Official: Tom Foley (England)