Inside centre Levani Botia was shown a red card for a high tackle on Maxime Médard with 28 minutes gone in the showpiece final, leaving La Rochelle to play the final 52 minutes with 14-men against the now five-time European champions.

“Losers make excuses, we needed to be better, we weren't good enough,” explained O’Gara after the contest. “We were inaccurate and ill-disciplined in the first 40 minutes – and that is irrespective of the red card.

“You can’t change the past - he didn’t intend to go out there to get a red card.

“He’s so fair, he hits so hard, but he hit high – that equals a red card.

“We are trying to make the game safer for all the parents out there, and the kids, so we have no complaints about that decision."

“Unfortunately, it was a red card and we had to play the rest of the game with 14-men, but you saw what it meant to the lads, you saw how they dug in for each other and that is very pleasing.”

At the time of the red card the score was level at 6-6, with La Rochelle taking a 12-9 lead into the interval thanks to four penalties from the boot of Ihaia West.

However, fly-half counterpart Romain Ntamack levelled proceedings with his fourth penalty kick of the afternoon before outside centre Juan Cruz Mallia opened the try scoring for the afternoon – punctuated by a Ntamack conversion and another penalty. The score 22-12 with ten minutes remaining.

La Rochelle scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow reduced the deficit to five points three minutes later as the TOP 14 outfit hoped to mount a dramatic late comeback.

“I don’t think character is ever questioned when you have the group of people we have,” said O’Gara of the late pressure mounted by his side as they chased a maiden European crown.

“There are a lot of positives – so many positives – but you could see the opportunities were there when you see the game ended 22-17 and it was 15 against 14 - they were hanging on.”

La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara praised the character of his players but insisted he would not make excuses after his side's Heineken Champions Cup final defeat at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday at the hands of Toulouse.