La Rochelle's miraculous victory over Leinster has nothing to do with the referee.

Sexton, who wasn't playing, sought out Peiper after the game. Photo: GETTY/Stu Forster

Saturday's European Cup final had it all — brilliant rugby, some refereeing differences, an off-pitch «incident» at half-time and post-match allegations of contempt and finger-waving at Jaco Peiper. All off-pitch incidents were first reported in the Irish press and while they may not be of significant significance to true rugby fans and certainly not to the tournament organisers, the European Professional Rugby Club, for journalists this list is more than welcome.

A few weeks ago, I was criticized for doubting the choice of venue for the final. Some have pointed out that, for technical reasons, Dublin's Aviva Stadium is not considered Leinster's stadium. That may be true, but it doesn't change the argument that it's much fairer to host the final in a city in a neutral country. If this had been done, you would not have heard the repetition of the accusations made by both the La Rochelle club and the Irishman Ronan O'Gara, their head coach, of being unfavorable to what they firmly regarded as a home team.< /p >

Of course, you can see which countries are not represented at the quarter-final stage, and look at those as hosts. You can have finals in Italy, Scotland or Wales more often, but it's not so bad and it will stop this kind of accusations and resentment.

The rancor seems to have begun before the match even began, when Gregory Aldritt, captain of La Rochelle, reportedly accused James Ryan, his colleague, of contempt of the coin toss. Depending on which report you read, it was either because Ryan refused to make eye contact with Aldritt, or instead stared at him intently, and that Ryan was late.

The versions of the peepers are mutually incompatible and, moreover, you do not have the right to dictate how your opponent looks at you when they meet. What you can count on is that your opponent will not be late for this pre-match event. The cure for being late is simple. If one side does not show up on time, and the referee and assistants always inform both sides of the exact time, the missing side is considered to have lost the toss. In this way, you will prevent the temptation of one of the parties to show playing skill, which, although not the worst behavior, rugby no longer needs.

As for the half-time break, EPCR confirmed that it was looking into the incident, which, if it did occur, came after a heated first half in which Leinster could close the match and La Rochelle were under extreme pressure. They should also look into the allegation that Johnny Sexton was trying to rebuke Peiper, who, in my impartial opinion, gave Leinster a bad name when it came to marginal decisions. Of course, nothing he did or didn't do resulted in Leinster's loss, and to claim otherwise is the worst form of bitterness and a blatant attempt to avoid responsibility by blaming officials.

Jaco Paper shows a red card to Leinster's Australian propsman Michael Alaalatoa (left). Photo: Getty Images/Anne-Christine Poujoulat

To be fair, if Sexton and some fans are trying to blame Peiper, they are in a tiny minority. Most of the Leinster supporters were perfectly realistic in their summary of the game and in the following observations, which cannot be disputed by sane rugby observers.

The first 12 minutes Leinster showed an almost perfect performance. The tactical acumen of their coaches and the ability of their players to implement certain strategies saw them take a 17-0 lead. This included a very clever gimmick for their first try and an even better 50:20 kicking plan for their second. As O'Gara later admitted, La Rochelle, who was also a human at this point, was close to being sunk. Few sides could muster not only the will but the strength to keep fighting, and looking back, their remaining defensive effort was as important as the points they scored before halftime.

Let's look at the situation . the real reasons for Leinster's defeat. They were physically unable to sustain their efforts in the first half, especially when they lost captain Ryan. In the second half, their fight had problems, and they were beaten solidly in a breakdown. They failed to take off what turned into near-constant pressure due to poor converting of direct exits from their 22s. Two missed conversions and either failure or refusal to convert a goal attempt in the final minutes left points out.< /p >

The decisive event was a thoughtless but undeniably correct red card issued just two minutes before the final whistle while Leinster was camped on the La Rochelle line. None of these violations were committed by officials. Make no mistake, winning away from home after such a start was nothing short of a miracle from La Rochelle.