LA ROCHELLE BEAT RACING 92 TO REACH FINAL
LA ROCHELLE secured their spot in the Heineken Champions Cup final for a second successive season after claiming a 20-13 victory against Racing 92.
Leinster lie in wait in a fortnight’s time at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille after they staged a second-half comeback to get the better of their fellow French side.
Nolann Le Garrec opened the scoring for Racing with an early penalty and they scored the first try of the game in the 26th minute when Virimi Vakatawa found a gap in the defence to touch down. Le Garrec added the extras.
La Rochelle worked their way back into the game and Ihaia West’s penalty and Gregory Alldritt’s try made it 10-8 at the break.
A Le Garrec penalty added another three points for Racing 10 minutes into the second half, but La Rochelle took the lead in the 53rd minute after being awarded a penalty try, with Racing’s Cedate Gomes Sa sent to the sin bin.
West cemented a spot in the final with a try in the 80th minute.
Meanwhile, Owen Farrell was frustrated with the performance of his Saracens side after they were dumped out of the European Challenge Cup by Toulon.
Saracens went down 2516 at the Stade Felix Mayol, and as a result there will be an all-French final in two weeks’ time when Toulon take on Lyon in Marseille.
And Saracens captain Farrell said his side should have done a lot better.
‘We couldn’t string too much together today. Massive credit to Toulon in the way they defended, and how they slowed down our breakdown in particular.’
Ben Earl scored Saracens’ only try with 11 points from Farrell, whose assessment of the game was shared by director of rugby Mark McCall.
‘Yes, I think that’s spot on,’ said McCall when asked if he was disappointed with the manner of his side’s performance.
‘It didn’t feel like we dealt with the occasion all that well. It was our first time back in an occasion like this,’ he said.
‘We need to see what we can learn from it. I’m not sure who did or who didn’t (play well) but it doesn’t take many for your team to be off.
‘Toulon were supercharged tonight, and the crowd was as well. We’ve got four or five weeks left of the season, and we can get something from this experience and take it into the rest of the Premiership season,’ he added.
‘I thought in the first half we got harassed into doing things we didn’t want to do. Our fundamentals weren’t great in the second half,’ he continued.
‘Our lineout wasn’t good, and without that foundation and platform it’s very hard to play when you’re up against a team like Toulon who are on fire and as aggressive as they were,’ he said.