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Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has welcomed the challenge of La Rochelle in the Champions Cup this coming Saturday.

The two rugby heavyweights will meet once again in a sold-out Aviva Stadium next weekend after overcoming both of their respective round of 16 opponents last weekend.

For La Rochelle, it's another chance to nail Leinster in Dublin after beating them twice in Champions Cup finals, one of which was in Dublin last year. Leinster, on the other hand, will be looking to make it two from two after they beat the French outfit in this year's pool stages.

When asked how much better his side will have to be to follow up the win in 2023, Cullen said to a reporter, "You tell me! A bit, probably!

"It depends on how well they play. The main thing is just to control what we can, and that’s well prepared now. Prepare well for another 80-minute game.

"Some good, some bad today [against the Tigers]. We will need lots of good next week, I would imagine, but it’s a great challenge, isn’t it?"

Cullen has also admitted that Leinster will have to be savvy against the streetwise La Rochelle team this weekend. It's a test that Cullen is not shying away from in Dublin this weekend.

"I watched a bit of their game. The Stormers obviously built a decent lead, but La Rochelle showed good composure. They are a pretty street-wise team. They know when to kill the game at different stages.

"We need to have a new plan and be ready for the challenge next week. We have seen plenty of each other over the last couple of seasons. It’s an amazing challenge; hopefully, it will be a great occasion here next Saturday."

The Irish province has been boosted by the news that Ross Byrne is set to be fit for the game. Byrne left the field after 67 minutes of the team’s last-16 victory over Leicester after picking up a shoulder injury.

Cian Healy, who entered as a replacement against the Tigers but later left due to a leg injury, is under assessment. Centre Ringrose continues shoulder injury rehab; status is pending for availability. Scrum-half Luke McGrath cleared return-to-play protocols post-head injury, joining full training.

Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Ciarán Frawley, and Andrew Porter reported no issues post-victory. Charlie Ngatai and Jimmy O'Brien are nearing their return, pending further assessment for calf and neck issues, respectively. There are no updates on James Ryan, Tommy O’Brien, or Alex Soroka's injuries.

Leinster coach Leo Cullen knows he’ll be up against the “Cork bandwagon” that are supporting Ronan O’Gara and La Rochelle for this evening’s (5.30) eagerly-anticipated Champions Cup quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium.

After travelling back from Cape Town following their win over the Stormers last weekend, O’Gara took his team to his home city for a three-day camp and trained at his old club Cork Constitution when the pitch at the Fota Island campus, where they were staying, was deemed unplayable.

Former Ireland international Donal Lenihan organised the use of the facilities for O’Gara, while a number of Cork Con legends were on hand to welcome him and his team to Temple Hill.

That appears to have irked Cullen ahead of the fifth meeting between the sides in four seasons.

“There seems to be a bit of a Cork bandwagon,” he said when asked about the Leinster v La Rochelle rivalry yesterday. “The mafia have jumped on to the bandwagon along with La Rochelle.

“Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it? That’s what sport needs and I’m glad that we’re a part of it.

“We have this rivalry because we’ve played in two finals. In previous years we weren’t even at the table . . . that’s the beauty of the tournament. It’s what makes it so special, some of the rivalries that are there. New teams come forward all the time.

“For us, we’re the only Irish team left in the competition and you’d love if all of Ireland got behind you.

“But that’s not the way it works, as we know. But we’re the last man standing of the Irish provinces. The Bulls and ourselves are the last two teams from the URC in the competition. So, we’re representing the competition that we play in.”

Cullen, who has made two changes to the team that beat Leicester Tigers by bringing Jason Jenkins and Will Connors into the pack, didn’t stop there when he was later asked about Munster’s Peter O’Mahony’s decision to sign a new one-year contract.

“It feels weird talking about Peter O’Mahony here today,” he said. “Ronan will be in here after, they were being hosted down in Cork Con this week, Donal Lenihan organised a few things for them this week so maybe ask the lads.”

La Rochelle are without full-back Brice Dulin who misses out with injury, as Teddy Thomas comes on to the wing and Dillyn Leyds starts at No 15.

Leo Cullen says his side rose to the occasion, as they ended La Rochelle's reign as European Champions at the Aviva Stadium.

A dominant second-half performance in which they scored 17 unanswered points saw them power past Ronan O'Gara's side at a sold-out Aviva Stadium, setting up an Investec Champions Cup semi-final meeting with the Northampton Saints at Croke Park next month.

The province led by 17 points approaching half time, the same lead that they had let slip against La Rochelle in the final last May. And when the French side got in for a try just before half-time through Louis Penverne, it looked like they were bracing themselves for another incredible comeback.

This time however, Leinster stemmed the flow within four minutes of the restart, Ryan Baird scampering down the touchline to restore the 17-point lead, from which the hosts only kicked on further.

Cullen believes that score was the turning point of the game.

"Whatever about giving away the try before half-time, getting the try just after half-time was massively important, to get the 17-point buffer," he told RTÉ Sport.

"Two good teams going hard at it... going to Croke Park will be an amazing experience for the guys." Our panel caught up with victorious Leinster boss, Leo Cullen.#RTErugby #LEIvSR pic.twitter.com/bvRIgqICXs

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 13, 2024

"We know La Rochelle have had to travel, and how much of that journey is still in the legs for them. You have to put them into a position where they're a bit uncomfortable.

"The two finals we’ve lost, as painful as they’ve been, there’s rich learning for us always, and making sure you never sit back on that lead is the big thing. You come unstuck, and we’ve lost, giving up tries in the last minute of the game over in Marseille, and last seven or eight minutes this time last year.

"Much better intent at the start of the second half, to keep playing, score, and then score another couple of tries.

"There’s other parts of the performance we can definitely get better on as well. That’s what we need to try focus on."

La Rochelle coach Ronan O'Gara gave the same assessment of his side's defeat, as he looked back with frustration on their slow second-half start.

"Being 10 points down at half-time was fantastic, we were obviously very happy with that," O'Gara said

"After the first try, a soft try four minutes into the second half, I think it was [the turning point]. Seventeen points against a quality outfit is too much, against a quality outfit with 36 minutes left."

And the La Rochelle boss said Leinster were worthy winners, to hand them a first knockout defeat in this competition since the 2021 final.

"Bitterly disappointed, but probably easier to move on because the better team won. They were more accurate, more decisive, smarter, and took their chances well.

"It's disappointing but we've had wonderful times in this competition. You can’t just throw everything out, even though a good review is necessary. You have to compliment the hungrier, better team who won today.

"Fair play to Leinster, it’s been an unbelievable battle over the last number of years and I hope we can get back to a level where we can compete with them," he added.

Before today, the largest winning margin between these sides was nine points, a third of the 27-point victory Leinster eased to at the Aviva.

While Cullen tried to play down the significance of it, he says he was impressed with the composure shown by his players.

"I don't know about a statement [win], but it was just making sure we put in a good performance, because it was a big occasion," he added, before turning attention to next week's BKT United Rugby Championship tour to South Africa.

"We’re pleased, I thought the occasion was fantastic.

"We’ve a couple of outings away in South Africa in between which my mind is turning to, so we have a couple of moving parts this week.

"For now, we’ll enjoy the occasion, the moment, and will make a plan for our South African trip on Tuesday."

Two outstanding teams. The reigning back-to-back champions versus the perennial contenders. Neither has been at their very best yet this season.

Something has to give at the Aviva Stadium come 5.30 next Saturday.

A final in all but name, last-eight clashes don’t get any bigger than this, as La Rochelle look to inflict more pain on Leinster by beating them in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup for the fourth year running.

The last two finals have ended in Ronan O’Gara’s men sneaking over the line in what were both epic contests, while La Rochelle were too strong on home soil in the semi-final three years ago. This weekend has all the makings of being another memorable affair.

Leinster and La Rochelle has become the definitive European club rivalry, and for this latest instalment to come so soon after Leo Cullen’s side finally got one over on their old foes in the pool stages earlier this season adds another layer of intrigue to the fifth showdown in four years.

Cullen and his players sat in the comfort of their own homes on Saturday afternoon, watching La Rochelle squeeze past an injury-hit Stormers, thanks to Manie Libbok missing a match-winning conversion with the last kick of the game. Later that evening Leinster took care of business against Leicester Tigers, albeit not that convincingly.

And therein lies another fascinating aspect of this weekend’s tantalising quarter-final. The ten defeats in their 20 Top 14 games this season highlight La Rochelle’s inconsistencies, while they also lost half (two) of their Champions Cup pool games, including that opening-day defeat to Leinster.

La Rochelle showed remarkable character in Cape Town to claw their way back from 16-0 down after a first-half display that was full of sloppy, uncharacteristic errors. But in the end, like all champion teams, they found a way to get the job done.

By the time Leinster kicked off against Leicester, the pre-match talk had been dominated by Cullen and O’Gara going head-to-head again, as if it was a foregone conclusion.

Perhaps that fed into the Leinster players’ minds as they appeared a touch complacent about their performance, which lacked their usual rhythm, with Cullen alluding to as much afterwards.

So, we now have a scenario whereby both teams require their best performance of the season to advance to the semi-final. For Leinster, home advantage has been earned off the back of a strong pool stage, but even still, we haven’t seen enough evidence yet to suggest they are now better placed to win their first Champions Cup since 2018.

As Leinster return to training today in the familiar surrounds of UCD, La Rochelle are on their way to Cork from South Africa via Paris – not that Cullen has any sympathy for his nemesis.

“We have to do it ourselves in the league as well. We’ll be heading down to South Africa, so that’s how it goes.”

O’Gara will set up camp in his home city before travelling to Dublin later in the week to the same venue where tempers frayed during last season’s final.

That added needle has poured petrol on the flames, with Cullen braced for another ferocious challenge.

“It’s pressure rugby, isn’t it?,” the Leinster boss said. “That’s why everyone does the grind they do, to get to this point, and playing big stadiums and leaving it all out there. It’s trying to manage that (feeling of) just having to turn up today and how motivated a team we were up against. It was bloody tough work out there.

“This week I don’t think anyone is going to be having those conversations, are they? Because you have a repeat of the final from the two previous seasons and two games that went right down to the wire which didn’t go our way.

“If we manage things slightly differently maybe it is within our control but you have to give it to the opposition as well, a hugely resourced team and they recruit from all around the globe. You see the quality of players they have and we need to be focused on what that involves.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want to be up against the top teams. That’s been the last couple of seasons and you can wind the clock back further, ten years ago, when it was Toulon winning the European Cup as it was then.

“We’re at home in a big game against the reigning champions and it’s a massively exciting challenge. (It) gets the juices flowing.”

Having been knocked out of the Champions Cup by La Rochelle in the last three seasons, there is a real fear, from a Leinster perspective, that they were suffering from a mental block, and while beating them in the pool stages will stand to them, a do-or-die clash brings about much more pressure.

“I don’t think you can really compare,” Cullen added. “It’s on the day. The same as the previous days, there was very little between the teams. We had leads in both of those finals which we weren’t able to hold on to, but that is some game management and young players have been through that experience.

“Players are two years on now and they have had that experience, and playing with Ireland during the Six Nations or the World Cup. It’s just making sure everyone adds their bit to the mix.

“It will be on the day with two sets of incredibly motivated players doing the best for their clubs and wanting to put on a big performance.

“It’s great that there is lots of intrigue around the battle. They’ll be saying all the good things they try to do and we will try to play to our strengths as well. We’ll have a good exchange hopefully.”

It promises to be that, and much, much more.

Leinster’s heavyweight Champions Cup quarter-final against La Rochelle is set to take place at 5.30 at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday evening.

Although the details will be officially confirmed by tournament organisers EPCR in due course, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen revealed that the eagerly-anticipated showdown will have top billing next weekend.

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle, who are reportedly flying from South Africa to Ireland before spending the week in Cork, have beaten Leinster in the last two finals and are aiming to be crowned champions for the third consecutive year.

“Job done, yeah,” Cullen said after his side’s 36-22 win over Leicester at the Aviva.

“Obviously the conditions are bloody tricky out there, so it was the wind, we don’t manage that from the restart at the start of the game, so we’re under a bit of pressure at the start of the game.

“I thought Leicester were good, carried strong, but then after they scored I thought we settled into the game, I thought we looked pretty sharp in attack, obviously Jamison (Gibson-Park) gets a hat-trick of tries in the first half off different good moments of attack, one from the shortside, one from a set play, another in phase play where we make a bust through the line.

“So he scores three really good tries and we’re not in a bad spot at half-time, because we probably played into the wind as well.

“Second-half, we probably lose some of those aerial contests, again, due to the swirling wind, we actually get one when Jack Conan scores his try, our firth try, Robbie (Henshaw) gets the intercept in between and we’re into a bit of a lead.

“I don’t know were we thinking that was the job done, but there was a few disruptions, bench coming on, it was a bit messy that second half. Maybe all our minds are a little bit guilty of wandering too far ahead sometimes.

“But listen, it’s a win, we’ve got the job done and it’s move on to the next challenge, the great challenge that is. A big crowd out there today, hopefully a big crowd next week.

“I believe it’s Saturday, someone told me 5.30pm, and that will be amazing. Hopefully it’s going to be a great occasion again and that’s the bit we need to get excited by and be better than we were today.”

Cullen did not report any major injury concerns following the bruising encounter with the Tigers, but he did add that the players will be assessed on Monday.

The Leinster boss will hope to have a full deck to pick from, as his side look to dethrone the champions.

“The main thing is just to control what we can and that’s prepare well now,” Cullen continued.

“Prepare well for another 80-minute game. Some good, some bad today. We will need lots of good next week, I would imagine, but it’s a great challenge isn’t it?

“I watched a bit of their game. The Stormers obviously built a decent lead, but they showed good composure. They are a pretty streetwise team. They know when to kill the game at different stages.

“We need to have a new plan and be ready for the challenge next week. We have seen plenty of each other over the last couple of seasons.

“It’s an amazing challenge, hopefully it will be a great occasion here next Saturday.

“We obviously faced off again in the pool stages, but the conditions were very difficult that day. What type of leveller does that make it?

“It was a bit of a set-piece grind, a lot of kicking, so we will see what the conditions are like, if there are any storms coming in next week.

“It’s an exciting challenge, that’s what you want. You want to be testing yourself against the best teams that are out there. And La Rochelle have obviously won the tournament and beat us in two finals.

“We managed to get a win against them in round one this year but it's two good teams going at it and it’s a hugely exciting challenge.”

Asked about coming up against O’Gara again, Cullen smiled:

“We always have a bit of a laugh, yeah. He bought us breakfast the last day so we will see what we do now this week.”