La Rochelle’s stunning defeat of Leinster in the Champions Cup final is a pointer to the South African blueprint that can break the Irish giants’ stranglehold on the United Rugby Championship.

The critical word here is “pointer” because it must be accepted that a blueprint is only as good as those tasked to implement it.

Leinster have been the undeniable dominant force in the URC and those Celtic competitions that preceded this season’s inaugural league to include SA’s four leading franchises...