Dan Leavy: Home advantage can play crucial role for Leinster
Despite their loss to Munster at the same venue last weekend, Dan Leavy is convinced playing in the familiar terrain of the Aviva Stadium will be a distinct advantage for his former side Leinster in Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup decider against La Rochelle.
Having come up short in both the United Rugby Championship and European rugby’s top-tier in 2021-22, the Blues are aiming to avoid the same fate in the current campaign. A drop-goal from Jack Crowley in the closing stages of a tense semi-final affair on Saturday put paid to their URC ambitions and the eastern province will now have to get past a La Rochelle side (coached by former Munster legend Ronan O’Gara) that consigned them to a dramatic Champions Cup showpiece defeat at Stade Velodrome in Marseille a little under 12 months ago.
“I think the fact it’s in the Aviva is huge for them. I was in Marseille last year and it felt like a La Rochelle home game. It was just deafening, the support. I know there was a good atmosphere last week at the Munster game and it was good to see the fans getting engaged and getting loud,” Leavy acknowledged.
“It makes a huge difference as a player, so I hope they can get down early. Get the pints in, get loud and support the team properly. I think it’s tough to bet against Leinster at home in the Aviva and they’ve looked amazing all season, so I wouldn’t bet against them.”
Before becoming playing colleagues in the professional game, Leavy and Ross Byrne were part of a star-studded St Michael’s College team that secured a Leinster Schools Senior Cup crown in 2012. While a groin injury will deny team captain Jonathan Sexton a provincial swansong, Leavy believes Byrne has proven he is more than capable of filling the out-half void in his absence.
“If you have Johnny Sexton in your squad, it is a travesty if he’s not playing, but I think Ross has been in the wings for a hell of a long time. He’s been unbelievable for Leinster.
“He’s been orchestrating one of the best attacks in Europe for years now and to finally see him properly get the backing from the Ireland and Leinster coaching staff is amazing. His kicking against Toulouse [in the Champions Cup semi-final], his distribution, everything was really top class. The more exposure you get to these big games, the more you grow.”
In addition to completing a Pro14 and Champions Cup double with Leinster in 2018, Leavy was also an instrumental figure at openside flanker for Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam success of the same year. However, a knee injury sustained against Ulster in a European quarter-final at the Aviva in March 2019 kept him sidelined for over 18 months.
Even though he returned to make 17 appearances across two seasons, Leavy was eventually forced to retire in April of last year at the age of just 27.
It was a frustrating way for such a blossoming career to come to an end, but the Dubliner has taken to the next chapter of his life with considerable aplomb.
Leavy was at Hyde Dublin on Tuesday alongside his father Donal, brother Adam (who also stepped away from rugby after featuring for the Ireland 7s at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021) and long-time friend Doug Leddin at the launch of his very own Ogham Irish Whiskey.
It has been a significant transition for someone who was previously an automatic starter at both provincial and international level, but Leavy is delighted to see his new venture finally getting off the ground.
“I’ve been in a unique position because I had such a big injury four years ago and then a gradual fizzling out of my career. It’s not like I had one injury and couldn’t come back, that was me done. I had two seasons basically of trying to come back, when I had the chance to think of other options,” Leavy added.
“See what else was going on, trying to better myself. So a gradual lead-in to retirement. I poured a lot of energy into this and it is surreal to finally see it all taking shape.”