After another pool stage that failed to deliver in the Investec Champions Cup, the EPCR would have been rubbing their hands with glee after the Round of 16 threw up the game that pretty much everyone has wanted to see for the last four years.
With 204 games behind them in the 30 years of this tournament, there are very few rugby hotbeds of Europe that Munster's Brave and Faithful haven't descended upon.
This weekend, the Munster players and supporters are in that rare, unfamiliar territory. Leinster have had their fill of La Rochelle in recent seasons, and now it's Munster's turn to see what the fuss is all about.
It would be an intriguing contest even without the ROG-factor, which elevates the narrative even further.
Having won this competition twice as a player with Munster, the former Ireland out-half has delivered two titles to La Rochelle as head coach, and has already cemented his legacy at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
O'Gara and Munster have crossed paths since his move into coaching; he was an assistant at Racing 92 when they and Munster did battle in the pool stage in 2016/17, but that pales in significance to this afternoon, where O'Gara will be looking to end his former team's European campaign at the last-16 stage for the third year in a row.
When the teams were paired off in January following the last round of games, a Munster win against the two-time champions would have seemed fanciful, but the odds have tightened in recent months.
Munster's injury problems are staring to clear with Craig Casey, Jean Kleyn, and Thaakir Abrahams all back from long-term issues, while La Rochelle's form has nose-dived.
Since beating Toulouse at the start of January, the French side haven't won a game, with seven defeats and a draw seeing them fall to tenth in the Top14 table.
While they may be struggling domestically, O'Gara's side have proven themselves capable of parking their French form and turning it on in Europe, and Stade Marcel Deflandre remains one of the great modern fortresses. Only Leinster have won away to the French side since 2019, and Munster will have to do it without the suspended Alex Nankivell.
Winning in France is hard enough, but doing so in knockout rugby is as tough as it gets. It's been 23 years since Munster last won a Champions Cup knockout game away to a French side. Since their 2002 semi-final win against Castres in Beziers, the province have lost six quarter or semi-finals away in France, twice to Biarritz in 2005 and 2010, as well as Toulouse (2003), Clermont (2013), Toulon (2014) and Racing (2018).
It's fallen through the cracks of the O'Gara narrative, but this could also be the final time we see Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray in the Champions Cup. With O'Mahony retiring this summer and Murray departing for a final season abroad, everything is set up for the pair to have a big say against their former team-mate.
While old friends meet in France, old enemies clash at Croke Park, where Leinster host Harlequins (3pm, live on RTE2 and RTÉ Player) in the latest chapter of their quest for a fifth Champions Cup title.
This will be just the fourth meeting of the sides in this competition, but the previous three have been tense and fractious. They shared a win apiece when they met in the pool stage in 2014/15, but their major history dates back to a 2009 quarter-final that even has its own Wikipedia page.
The Bloodgate game is one of the most famous matches ever played in this tournament, with the fallout from Tom Williams's fake blood injury lasting several months and leading to lengthy suspensions for the player, Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards, and a hefty fine for the club, who came just short of being banned from the competition.
Leinster's drive for European star number five continues apace when they face Harlequins in the Champions Cup on Saturday
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 4, 2025
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Leinster's win at the Stoop 16 years ago was a milestone on their quest for a first title, and Leo Cullen's side are now hell-bent on winning their fifth.
Four wins from four in the pool stage has secured home advantage for the province right through to the semi-final, should they get there, and they are a short price to get back to the final for the fourth season in a row.
After their second-stringers pulled off a heroic win in Durban last week, the frontliners have all been restored for Croke Park; an entirely changed starting 15, 13 of which are Irish internationals, along with RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani, while Jordie Barrett and Tadhg Furlong are part of a stacked bench. In total, the province's matchday 23 combines for 912 Test caps.
Quins come to Croke Park with more than enough firepower to trouble Leinster, and showed last season they can pull defences apart with a surprise run to the semi-finals, but Danny Wilson's side have struggled for consistency this season, with last week's heavy defeat to Bath a blueprint for Leinster to work with this afternoon.
Ulster have the Sunday matinee slot this weekend, with Richie Murphy's side going up against familiar opposition in Union Bordeaux-Begles (12.30pm).
When the sides met back in December in the pool stage, Ulster looked to be edging an arm-wrestle when they got to the final quarter with a 19-14 lead, but the French side blew them apart down the stretch, scoring 26 unanswered points for a 40-19 win.
Yannick Bru's side have been threatening to make a breakthrough in recent seasons, and they have been one of the most impressive sides in Europe this year. Second behind Toulouse in the Top14, they cruised to a top seed in the knock-out stage with four bonus-point wins, averaging more than 50 points per game.
There are some notable absentees for Bordeaux this week. Ulster fans will have breathed a sigh of relief to see Louis Bielle-Biarrey rested. The 21-year-old wing is currently on a run of 14 tries in his last nine games, among 26 tries in 22 matches for club and country this season.
Along with Bielle-Biarrey, Nicolas Depoortere is also absent, along with forwards Jonny Gray and Carlu Sadie. There is still a lot of backline talent for attack coach Noel McNamara to work with though, with Maxime Lucu and Joey Carbery in the half-backs, Damian Penaud on the wing and Yoram Moefana in the centre.
While Ulster's form has stabilised with three wins in a row, they're still haemorrhaging tries, and it would take the performance of their season to pull off a famous win at Stade Chaban-Delmas and reach a quarter-final, where La Rochelle or Munster would await.
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Watch Leinster v Harlequins in the Champions Cup on Saturday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
Listen to live commentary of La Rochelle v Munster (5.30pm) and updates from Leinster v Harlequins (3pm) in the Champions Cup on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
