La Rochelle, miraculous in South Africa, reaches the quarter-finals

This time, fate was in favor of the Rochelais. As in the group stage of this edition of the Champions Cup, the meeting between La Rochelle and the Stormers on Saturday April 6 in Cape Town (South Africa) was decided by one point. Unlike the group match played in mid-December (21-20 for the South African province), the round of 16 turned in favor of the Maritimes, winners 22-21 following a missed transformation by Manie Libbok after the siren . This same opener who crucified the reigning champion on the gong a little over three months ago… by converting Venter’s try.

In South Africa, La Rochelle suffered throughout the match, being behind on the scoreboard from the 4th minute after a Libbok penalty. Facing the wind, too messy with the ball and undisciplined, the Maritimes took to the water in the first period, suffering the assaults of the Stormers and conceding ten points in numerical inferiority following a yellow card against Skelton who, lacking lucidity , had thrown himself into a ruck.

La Rochelle relied on its forwards

We had to wait until the 50th minute to see Ronan O’Gara’s players score their first points thanks to a strong try from Penverne, while the South Africans were leading 16-0 after a new penalty from Libbok at the start of the second half. . Reboosted, the title holders of the competition completely reversed the situation in around ten minutes to get back in front with a low charge from Alldritt and a flattened ball on the line (17-16, 62nd).

With the wind at their backs and their game regained, the visitors continued to show strength, reminding us that rugby is won in front, with a third try scored by their replacement pillar Sclavi. Off-center, Hastoy then missed the opportunity to protect his team from a converted try by not succeeding in his transformation, his second failure after having already left a penalty on the way in the first period (22-16, 70th) .

Bordeaux on display, Lyon severely beaten

Ten suffocating minutes followed with several crossings and finally a South African try on the siren, scored by Hartzenberg after a perfect opening from Libbok. Impeccable on the feet until then, the international number 10 nevertheless missed the most important attempt of the match, leaving room in the quarters for the Rochelais. “Nothing logical, but it happened”, confided Brice Dulin after the meeting. La Rochelle will play its place in the last four next week at Leinster for a repeat of the last two finals of the competition. It will be at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, where La Rochelle lifted the trophy last year thanks to a victory… by one point.

Also traveling to South Africa, Lyon had a much less happy afternoon, conceding nine tries for a heavy 59-19 defeat against the Blue Bulls. Quite the opposite of Bordeaux who, as in the groups (55-15), had fun against Saracens, Saturday, late afternoon in Chaban-Delmas, winning 45-12 thanks to six tries. If the Rochelais shone thanks to their forwards, it was the Bordeaux backs who again stood out with doubles from Garcia, Depoortere and Bielle-Biarrey. UBB will host Harlequins next week in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.