GRAND FINAL: Leyds targets another 'good day' against Leinster
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Dillyn Leyds and his Top 14 club Stade Rochelais have become accustomed to the Champions Cup Grand Final.
The French club will feature in their third consecutive Champions Cup Final when they head to Dublin to face Leinster on Saturday.
The showdown between the two teams is a replay of last year’s Final where La Rochelle clinched their maiden European crown in Marseille.
One man who was instrumental during the hard-fought 24-21 win was South African wing Dillyn Leyds.
The Springbok produced a man-of-the-match performance, his pace and quick feet tormenting the Leinster’s defence.
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Reflecting on his starring role, Leyds said he hope for more of the same this weekend.
“Once I managed to get my hands on the ball quite early and get a good number of touches it gave me a bit of confidence to do that throughout the match,” the former Stormers wing told RTE.
“It was a good day for me but I also think it was a good day for the team.
“Hopefully, from this weekend the same thing can happen, as a collective take the initiative and play a bit more rugby even though it is a final.
“We don’t want to go into our shells. We want to play the way we have been playing throughout the season.”
Fire shots early
La Rochelle have been enjoying an incredible season. They booked a Top 14 semifinal clash after beating defending champs Montpellier at the weekend and head to Dublin with momentum and face a wounded Leinster team.
However, Leyds remains wary of the wounded Leinster, who will be out to deliver a ruthless performance following their United Rugby Championship defeat to Munster at the weekend.
Leinster was facing the prospects of claiming a double – URC and Champions Cup – but a narrow 15-16 defeat to Irish rivals Munster at Landsdowne Road ended that dream.
“Like any team when you get beaten at home, especially in a knockout game, you take a bit of a hit,” the Bok said when asked about Leinster.
“You want to come back firing shots early. You want to show maybe it was just a tough day as a team.
“We had similar situations this season in the Top 14 where we lost at home and the week leading up to the next game is all about training a bit of pride.
“They are a bunch of quality international players who know how to react after a loss like that.
“I don’t think that with the final in a couple of days, they will be focusing too much on what happened but how they can fix and react to this final.”
*Additional Source: RTE
