Gloucester barged aside by classy La Rochelle

GLOUCESTER suffered a heavyweight Champions Cup knockout at the hands of a massive La Rochelle side at Kingsholm last night — to end any hope of an improbable title challenge in this season of transition. The West Country club were fortunate to earn a place in this round of 16 after suffering a 55-10 pool drubbing in Lyon. This bonus fixture at the sharp end of Europe’s premier tournament was a welcome diversion from a tough Premiership campaign, but George Skivington’s tenacious side were eventually seen off by French opponents reinforced by southern hemisphere firepower and muscle. Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit was ruled out with a tight hamstring just before kick-off but even his finishing class may not have made any difference, as La Rochelle overpowered their English rivals to set up a home quarter-final against the Scarlets or Sale. Gloucester are left to focus on maintaining their recent league revival. This had the look of a potential mismatch, with Gloucester lying 11th in the Premiership and La Rochelle second in the Top 14 — above mighty Racing 92 and Clermont Auvergne. The visitors won both their pool matches before the round-robin stage was abandoned and head coach Ronan O’Gara has grand ambitions in this event. Gloucester went ahead via a third-minute penalty by George Barton, but La Rochelle soon ignited. Their first try came in the ninth minute when ex-Saracen Will Skelton blasted forward in midfield and released Kevin Gourdon, who surged into the hosts’ 22 and off-loaded for Dillyn Leyds to score.

Another Barton penalty was cancelled out by Ihaia West, before La Rochelle struck again in the 23rd minute. Levani Botia’s over-head pass released Arthur Retiere to touch down in the right corner. It looked as if Chris Harris had forced him into touch but the try was awarded and West added the conversion. Back came Gloucester, refusing to surrender. Just after the half-hour, centre Mark Atkinson made two telling carries in a sustained onslaught by the home team and sent Barton jinking up to the line. From the ensuing ruck, Ruan Ackermann (above) forced his way over and Barton converted. Just before half-time, La Rochelle had another try ruled out by the television match official, so Gloucester — somehow — were two points adrift at the break. Nine minutes into the second half, La Rochelle came close to another try as

Botia picked up from a ruck and raced clear before Tawera Kerr-Barlow took it on but was stopped close to the Gloucester line. Then home captain Lewis Ludlow was sin-binned for killing the ball and West dispatched the subsequent penalty to make it 13-18. The Kiwi playmaker was on target again soon after to put his side more than a score ahead. Gloucester still kept coming and another Barton penalty put them back in touch, before Jules Plisson landed two shots — the first from near halfway — to re-establish La Rochelle’s superiority and they deployed their high-class reserves to close out the game. lLEINSTER are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup after their last-16 clash with Toulon in Dublin yesterday was cancelled after a Covid-19 case at the French club.