Qualified before kick-off, the Maritimes were very serious, largely beating Glasgow on Saturday night (38-28).
Article written by
Posted
Reading time : 1 min.
Okay, this Glasgow-La Rochelle was perhaps not, on paper, the most attractive meeting for qualified Maritimers even before kick-off. But on this 4th day of the Champions Cup, the meetings involving French clubs are so rare that it would be a shame to miss them. Especially since the Rochelais delivered a very serious performance, overcoming the Scots with the offensive bonus (38-28), Saturday January 22.
Despite the very relative challenge of the meeting, Ronan O’Gara lined up a team probably close to the fifteen brought to play the cutthroat matches of the spring. The Yellow and Black executives scored four tries on the Glasgow field, immediately taking the measure of an opponent yet forced to victory. Freed from all pressure, they did not hesitate to send the game wide. And this, even if the tests emanate from individual exploits (Rhule, 21st and Bourgarit, 46th), from domination of the forwards (maul concluded by Paul Boudehent, 40th + 3) or from counters (dribblings of Leyds fructified by Pierre Boudehent, 52nd ).
Two late Scottish goals sweetened the bill, but Richie Gray’s team-mates missed their mark. They remain 8th, but could lose their place in the final table if Montpellier wins at Exeter on Sunday. The Rochelais finish 3rd in this group A and will receive the return match of the eighth.
This maritime victory ensures above all the qualification of Clermont. Even if Sale and the MHR triumph on Sunday, the ASM is now guaranteed to finish, in the worst case, eighth in the group. The defeat in Ulster (31-34) on Saturday therefore did not weigh very heavily in the balance. The Auvergnats thus join La Rochelle, Racing and Bordeaux-Bègles in the eighth. Meanwhile Montpellier, Toulouse and the Stade Français, still in the running.