It didn't have the jeopardy of their previous meetings but Leinster dug deep to get one over on rivals La Rochelle in their opening Investec Champions Cup tie.
Having lost the last two finals, and the semi-final in 2021, Leo Cullen’s side came away with an important win played out in extremely wet and difficult conditions on the west coast of France.
A fourth loss in a row would have only added to the psychological advantage that Ronan O’Gara’s side appear to have over their opponents, but Leinster held firm against some late pressure in a game that either side could have won.
The former Munster and Ireland out-half (above) was in the stands after being served with a suspension and had to watch on as poor discipline and some tenacious Leinster defence foiled his plans and handed La Rochelle a first home European defeat in four years.
Jordan Larmour scored the only try of the game in the first half and Harry Byrne's conversion and three nerveless penalties from replacement Ciarán Frawley was enough to earn the points for the visitors.
It took just two minutes for the back-to-back European Champions to take the lead, Antoine Hastoy popping over a straightforward penalty after Joe McCarthy was penalised for going offside when Pierre Bourgarit's run had stretched the Leinster defence.
There was plenty of kicking and handling errors as the rain lashed down but Leinster were able to come away with a vital score from their first sustained spell of pressure.
It came just after McCarthy and La Rochelle centre Jonathan Danty were sinbinned by referee Matthew Carley for their respective parts in a bout of pushing and shoving, both deemed to have got involved needlessly when the fray was calming down.
Playing a penalty advantage off the next play, Leinster went through a couple of phases close to the line before the ball was spun wide to Larmour, who had time to dive in for the only try of the match.
Byrne, preferred to start at out-half over Frawley, landed a lovely conversion to make it 7-3 in the 13th minute.
There was little incentive for the sides to keep the ball in hand and full-backs Hugo Keenan and Brice Dulin, deserved player of the match, were busy throughout.
It was an old-school battle for the duration with James Ryan and Caelan Doris never shirking from the challenge, while Will Connors buzzed around in defence for his 50-minute run-out, crucially making a low tackle that denied Levani Botia close to the line.
The Top14 side were next to score, however, with Hastoy landing a long-range penalty after Leinster infringed at a scrum.
Byrne went off for a head injury assessment just before the break and the first task for Frawley (above) was to cancel out the three-pointer with a well-struck penalty of his own as the whistle went for half-time.
Another Hastoy penalty, again from a scrum, reduced the arrears to 10-9 and Leinster may have had visions of their last two meetings, lost both times by a single score.
Will Skelton and Bourgarit continued to carry strongly but Cullen's side were revitalised by the introduction of Charles Ngatai and Josh van der Flier.
It was the Kiwi centre’s run that eventually made La Rochelle infringe in front of the posts and Frawley kicked his second in the 60th minute.
Another Hastoy shot at goal from distance just veered wide and it was the visitors who had the next half chance.
Andrew Porter’s block down almost led to another Leinster try but the European champions cleared and when given another kickable penalty a few minutes later declined with young out-half Hugo Reus going to the corner.
But Paul Boudehent knocked on at the subsequent lineout and despite the Stade Rochelais complaints the referee wasn’t interested in claims of interference.
With time running out, the French side had to look for more than a penalty and Van der Flier came up with a brilliant jackal penalty at the breakdown.
Frawley then landed a monster kick, a full 60 metres out, with the clock in the red to seal a much-needed win for the URC leaders.
The sides may well meet further down the line but next up for Cullen's men is a home match with Sale next Saturday at the RDS.
La Rochelle: Brice Dulin; Dillyn Leyds, Ulupano Seuteni, Jonathan Danty, Jules Favre; Antoine Hastoy, Tawerra Kerr-Barlow; Reda Wardi, Pierre Bourgarit (capt), Uini Atonio, Thomas Lavault; Will Skelton, Paul Boudehent, Levani Botia, Yoan Tanga
Replacements: Sacha Idoumi, Joel Sclavi, Georges-Henri Colombe Reazel, Ultan Dillane, Rémi Picquette, Judicaël Cancoriet, Teddy Iribaren, Hugo Reus
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose (co-capt), Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O'Brien; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Michael Ala'alatoa; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (co-capt); Ryan Baird, Will Connors, Caelan Doris
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, Jason Jenkins, Josh van der Flier, Ben Murphy, Ciarán Frawley, Charlie Ngatai
Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng)
