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Leinster's Ciaran Frawley lands 60m penalty to seal epic win over La Rochelle

Ciarán Frawley, left, and Jordan Larmour of Leinster celebrate after the Investec Champions Cup match between La Rochelle and Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

In a captivating clash at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre, Irish giants Leinster emerged victorious with a memorable 16-9 win over bitter European rivals La Rochelle, with replacement Ciaran Frawley very much the hero of the hour.

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Frawley showcased nerves of steel in the 80th minute, slotting an incredible 60-metre penalty that ultimately sealed the epic triumph for Leo Cullen’s side.

Leinster scored first through wing Jordan Larmour in the 11th minute – converted by Harry Byrne – after some neat passing from the Leinster backs despite torrential conditions.

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      La Rochelle hit back through the boot of Antoine Hastoy, who slotted three penalties as the home side looked to reel in Leinster.

      The visitors stuck to the task, however. Super-sub Frawley kicked a crucial penalty in the 59th minute, further extending Leinster’s lead to 13-9, placing the men in blue in a favourable position as the match entered the final quarter.

      After some sustained pressure from La Rochelle, Leinster were awarded a penalty on their 10-metre line and chose to kick to posts in what was presumed by many as time time-wasting tactic with just a minute left on the clock. Frawley however landed the whopper kick and Leinster come away with a famous victory over the side that had beaten them on the last three occasions in this competition.

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      Comments

      3 Comments
      S
      Sumkunn Tsadmiova 598 days ago

      Stupid kick. Didn’t gain anything - La Rochelle still had a losing bonus point and Leinster didn’t add to the 4 match point win. If it had hit the woodwork, and La Rochelle had run it back for a try, the 4-1 match point tally would have been reversed. Brainless decision. Put the ball dead. TCUP - Thinking correctly under pressure.

      C
      CO 598 days ago

      I don’t think that you fully understood the situation. The clock was almost at 79:00 when the foul was committed. Kicking to touch would not have ended the game, they would have had to take the line out, meaning that option had the same possible down side (lose the lineout or miss touch and La Rochelle have the ball back) but limited upside (possibility but unlikely Leinster score try from the lineout). Kicking sticks gives 60 seconds to the kicker from when a shot at goal is called and they purposely waited for 79:00 to pass before indicating posts. Since Frawley has massive distance, he was likely to end the game with the ball dead or points, therefore taking the kick was the percentage option, and they worked that out in 2 seconds. TCUP was exceptional.

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      Flankly 2 hours ago
      There remains a culture of excuses in Australian rugby

      One team has exceeded expectations in this series and the other has not. Hats off to a Wallabies team in rebuild mode for a smile-inducing effort in the second test (especially the first half).


      Completely agree that a top ranked team finds ways to defend a big half-time lead, and they did not quite pull it off. The fact that Piardi did not run the Head Contact Process in the 79th minute Tizzano/Morgan incident is worth discussion. However, Schmidt will be pointing out to the team that avoiding a defensive breakdown on your own 5m line at that point in the game is the thing in their control. Equally, clarification 3-2022 says you cannot jump or dive as a means of avoiding a tackle, as Sheehan admits to have done, but the question for Australia is why and how they were facing a tap-and-go 5m from their line (again).


      Where I disagree with this article is the suggestion that Australia are caught in an excuse-making trap of poor performance. For me they are on a steep curve of improvement, and from what we have seen of Schmidt, there is little reason to assume that this will end now. Granted Australia lacks player depth, and that’s a real problem against big teams and in major campaigns. But the Lions are a pretty good team, probably ranking in the top five in the world, and the rebuilding Wallabies were seconds (and a couple of 50/50 ref calls) away from beating them at the MCG.


      In the end, the Wallabies are building to a home RWC, and were expected to lose the Lions series on the way to that goal. Success looks like being seriously competitive in the series loss, with good learnings about what needs to be fixed. A series win would have been a fantastic bonus, and humiliation for the UK/Ireland team.


      I expect the Wallabies to be very credible in the 2025 RC, to be much better in 2026, and to be a very challenging opponent for any team in the 2027 RWC.

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