The French side – who were competing in their first Heineken Champions Cup semi-final – fell seven points behind after a Tadhg Furlong try and had Wiaan Liebenberg sent to the sin bin in the process.

But La Rochelle were able to weather the early Leinster storm and edged the sin-bin period 3-0 courtesy of an Ihaia West penalty, something O’Gara said was “really important” as they managed to turn the tide and eventually come out nine-point victors, earning a spot in the showpiece final against Toulouse at Twickenham later this month.

Speaking to Off The Ball, O’Gara said: “I didn’t enjoy the first ten minutes, it was disappearing very quickly in front of my eyes, but we managed to get a grip of the game and become a little bit more accurate in our play. Once we held the ball for a period of time we made them suffer a bit.

“What was probably really important was when we were 7-0 down we managed that yellow card period extremely well which was very satisfying.”

“We had a plan to go after Leinster’s ruck and that worked. The plan was in theory and on paper, but it takes good decisions from your players to implement that - and implement it consistently - and that’s where we probably got a foothold in the match.

“When we had the ball, we needed to be better with it, we didn’t for - the majority of the first half - really put Leinster under that much pressure but I think we managed the scoreboard quite well because they could have been further ahead at half time.”

O’Gara also reserved praise for EPCR European Player of the Year nominee Will Skelton, who scored the second try in La Rochelle’s win last weekend.

“There are powerful players and then there is Will Skelton,” O’Gara added.

“He’s out of a category because he is so different to everyone else and you know he most definitely has changed our team and he is a very, very special player.

“You most definitely need powerful players, but for me what brings out the best in powerful players is the people who have the capacity to think two or three seconds ahead of everyone else.

“In sport there will always be a place for players who are the fastest thinkers, in rugby you probably need a ratio of 2:1 power to thinkers – but for me the guys with game intelligence will always shine through.”

La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has pinpointed the most important period in his side’s stunning 32-23 Heineken Champions Cup semi-final victory over Leinster Rugby last weekend.