The former Munster legend Ronan O’Gara will be looking to overcome the favourites Leinster in Marseille on Saturday week. La Rochelle’s director of rugby saw his side defeat the Champions Cup nearly men Racing 92 in the stifling heat in northern France in the first game of professional rugby at Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens.
It was physical and attritional but it was not pretty. Certainly these sides could not match Leinster’s stately progression to the final 24 hours earlier.
La Rochelle will not beat the overwhelming favourites Leinster if they choose to play a high-tempo game next week but if the game is tight they are a match for anyone. O’Gara’s side, beaten 12 months ago at Twickenham in the final by Toulouse, have a monstrous pack and they have made great strides in the past year.
No one has made more carries in the competition this season than their captain, Grégory Alldritt, whose try on the stroke of half‑time turned the game La Rochelle’s way and the No 8 was outstanding alongside the 35-year-old former All Black Victor Vito in the back row.
Romantics will regret that the final will not be graced by Racing’s Nolann Le Garrec. The scrum-half turned 20 on Saturday but could not celebrate a win alongside his half-back partner Finn Russell, both outstanding the previous week against Sale in their quarter-final in Paris.
Le Garrec has been lauded as the next Antoine Dupont but he had to watch Ihaia West finally kill off the game in the last move of the afternoon with a try that made up for the New Zealander’s wayward place-kicking that could have cost them the game. La Rochelle, though, deserved their victory.
The day had not started well for Racing with the full-back Max Spring and the prop Trevor Nyakane pulling out with injuries but the Parisian side got their noses in front in a scrappy first half when both sides appeared to be racked by nerves in this, their first Champions Cup meeting. After Le Garrec had put Racing ahead with an early penalty his side scored the first try. The Racing pack drove forwards and Virimi Vakatawa saw his opportunity with a neat step and a stretch over the line.
La Rochelle’s pack then began to stretch its muscles. Racing endured another injury blow when Ibrahim Diallo went low to halt the giant prop Uini Atonio and the flanker left the field dazed and confused. La Rochelle began to squeeze the life out of the Racing pack and, after a series of penalties and scrums, Alldritt powered over with the last move of the first half to take his side to within two points of Racing for whom the second half looked ominous.
Racing changed their front row at the break. La Rochelle soon had a chance to take the lead for the first time but West fluffed his third kick of the afternoon when a straightforward penalty struck a post. Instead it was Racing who stretched their lead when Le Garrec landed a penalty five minutes later.
Racing, though, put more pressure on themselves when their hooker Camille Chat, one of those replacements, was shown a yellow card for tackling a man without the ball. Suddenly the whole momentum of the game changed.
La Rochelle’s pack rumbled forwards and the referee, Matthew Carley, awarded them a penalty try when the Racing No 8 Yoan Tanga was penalised for obstruction at the maul. Tanga was shown a yellow card and Racing were reduced to 13 players and a seemingly hopeless task of rescuing the game.
Le Garrec had two opportunities to restore the lead for the 13 men with two penalties. But they drifted wide and La Rochelle sensed they were on their way to a second successive final.
