France prop credits Irish coach with transforming the Champions Cup holders but is wary of Exeter before Sunday’s semi-final
Uini Atonio is right on time for our Zoom appointment. “I think we’re having lunch soon,” he says with a grin. “I don’t want to be late for that.” The prop’s desire to fuel up is understandable because there is hard work to do. La Rochelle, the Champions Cup holders, stand two victories away from retaining the trophy they won in a dramatic showdown against Leinster last season.
Ronan O’Gara’s side meet Exeter on Sunday in the second semi-final, in Bordeaux, for the right to play Leinster in next month’s final in Dublin. La Rochelle have already knocked Saracens and Gloucester out of Europe and are engaged in a tight battle against Toulouse for the French Top 14 title, so it may seem natural to regard them as favourites, particularly in view of Exeter’s mixed domestic form. But that is not how Atonio sees it.
