La Rochelle comes out in extremis against Gloucester and goes to the quarter-finals

Defending champion, Stade La Rochelle was very scared at home. Faced with a playful and ambitious Gloucester team, the men of Ronan O’Gara did not go far from corrections in the round of 16 of the Champions Cup on Saturday April 1. They were saved by a try from the experienced Teddy Thomas a few minutes from the end of the match (29-26). From the start of the meeting, the English showed themselves uninhibited, letting the game take over the challenge. On a first-hand combination between forwards and three-quarters, Chris Harris found the fault to flatten between the poles (14th). At the break, neither team had managed to gain an advantage over the other (15-15).

Pragmatic in the second half to seize the score, Gloucester defended for a long time against the Maritimes transcended by the public of Marcel Deflandre, who finally managed to crack the English wall through Teddy Thomas, author of a double. The essential is assured, heading to the quarter-finals.