ATTACK COACH ANDREW Goodman acknowledged that happiness was his overriding emotion at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday after Leinster delivered what he described as a ‘complete performance’ in their resounding 40-13 triumph over La Rochelle at the quarter-final stage of the European Champions Cup.

Having suffered back-to-back final reversals to the Top 14 outfit in the past two editions of the competition – as well as a penultimate round defeat in 2021 – the eastern province were hell-bent on finally getting the better of Ronan O’Gara’s side in a knockout clash. A gritty pool stage victory last December in Stade Marcel-Deflandre was a welcome boost for Leinster, but their last-eight meeting at the sold-out Lansdowne Road venue on the weekend held much greater significance.

They had raced into a 17-0 lead before ultimately coming up short in last year’s decider between the same two teams in the Aviva, but there was to be no drop-off from the Blues on this particular occasion.

“Just happiness really. I got asked a couple of times was it relief [on the final whistle], but I suppose the nature of the game is that last 20 minutes, we were a bit more relaxed at that stage. We were able to sit back and enjoy, and just take in what I thought was a great performance from the 23 that were out there. On the back of a great week from the whole squad,” the Leinster assistant coach remarked.

“It was happiness, it was good to go into the shed and see some smiling faces. Get the music on, have a beer together and just enjoy the game of what had been a great week. It was a complete performance, wasn’t it?

“We knew the physicality was going to be such a big thing in the game, both sides of the ball. The boys talked about it. They owned it from the start of the week with their language, but you can always do that and the great part for us as coaches and for the lads who didn’t get to play was to see them put it into action.”

Goodman was speaking to the media yesterday in UCD ahead of Leinster’s impending trip to South Africa for consecutive United Rugby Championship bouts with the Lions and the Stormers.

A short while after the briefing had been completed, it was announced that his fellow New Zealander Jordie Barrett will join Leinster in December on a new deal that will bring him up to the end of the 2024/25 season. While his move into Andy Farrell’s national team coaching set-up in the coming months means he won’t get to work with the All Blacks international at Leinster, Dan Sheehan is someone Goodman will be seeing plenty of over the next few years.

As well as being the Blues’ first-choice hooker at the present moment, Sheehan regularly dons the number two jersey with Ireland in the international test arena and it was also announced yesterday that he had put pen to paper on a new two-year contract for Ireland and Leinster Rugby.

He was amongst the tries against La Rochelle last Saturday and in addition to his work as a front-row specialist, Goodman has been impressed by Sheehan’s prowess across the pitch since the former player returned to the province as a coach at the beginning of last season.

“I’ve said to Leo before, if we ever get a number of injuries, I wouldn’t hesitate to put him in a 12 jersey. He’s got the skillset to do it. He’s just one of those guys who seems to be able to catch and pass off both sides, offload. Also his sense around the game, where he pops up and does things is great,” Goodman added.

“He’s still got a long way to keep on developing and that’s the great thing about him. He’s always looking for ways to improve his game and to keep on moving forward. He has got a massive future ahead.”

Daire Walsh