Harlequins are humbled by French and leave Kingston with deep regrets
Harlequins had to settle for a losing bonus point as La Rochelle made history by coming to the Stoop on their Champions Cup debut and claiming a victory that will see much soul-searching from John Kingston’s side.
Harlequins will regret not being able to make more of their chances particularly during long periods spent on the opposition line in the second half.
Director of rugby Kingston was keen to emphasise his side’s will in trying to quell La Rochelle’s attack and defence: “I am disappointed but I thought we gave everything, there was great commitment from us throughout the game, we never stopped trying right to the bitter end. They are a class act, a really good side, they took their chances and we didn’t take enough of ours.”
The cliche that French teams do not travel well proved jaded as they put in an impressive performance and showed character in keeping Quins out in the game’s closing minutes.
Kingston praised La Rochelle’s gutsy display while lamenting the opportunities his side failed to convert, saying: “They were unbelievably tenacious when they were under the pump bigtime in the last 10 to 15 minutes.
“I thought we could crack them if we could keep the heat on. Intensity was the key. The fact they got off to such a fast start, we never got ahead on the scoreboard, meant we were the side under pressure.”
La Rochelle are the only club making their Champions Cup bow this season after finishing the Top 14 regular season as league leaders, but lost out on a place in the final to Toulon. Perhaps the hunger from that defeat is what is fuelling their European charge.
They demonstrated their desire from the outset at the Stoop with hooker Hikairo Forbes scoring minutes into the game.
Former England Saxons fly-half Ryan Lamb, who moved to La Rochelle from Worcester this season, proved a savvy signing, nailing all bar one of his kicks from the tee and playing an important part in directing his side defensively around the pitch.
Harlequins seemed to wake up and gain composure after leaking the opening score with full-back Mike Brown looking particularly spritely on his return from injury. Two-time British and Irish Lion Jamie Roberts did what he does best, bursting through to set up second row Charlie Matthews for the home side’s opener.
Despite tough tackling and plenty of heart from former Australia captain James Horwill, La Rochelle continued to show class and endeavour, with World Cup-winning New Zealand No8 Victor Vito injecting confidence into his side, and fellow back rows Kevin Gourdon and Dutchman Zeno Kieft also looking impressive in the build-up to tries from inside centre Geoffrey Doumayrou and prop Danny Priso.
Harlequins managed to not allow the gap to widen too much as Brown set up 21-year-old centre Joe Marchant for a try just after the half-hour mark to take the score to 17-24.
The jaunes et noirs began the second half as they had the first, with Doumayrou scoring off the back of a break from Lamb that saw Marcus Smith show his youth and inexperience defensively. A try bonus point secured at 44 minutes, not too shabby for competition newcomers. Harlequins would have been hoping to exploit La Rochelle in the second half in terms of fitness and stamina as French clubs have the reputation for not putting the same effort into conditioning as their Anglo and Celtic counterparts.
But they showed that perhaps they are setting a new template, particularly as they defended with a man down for 10 minutes when Gourdon was sent to the sin bin.
Danny Care showed his experience as Harlequins camped on the La Rochelle line in attempt to create that spark, and it eventually came just after the hour mark as prop Will Collier crashed over taking the game back to 10 points. Harlequins secured their losing bonus point via a Smith penalty in the game’s closing moments.