a Franco-French final, La Rochelle-Toulouse, in the Champions Cup final

The idyllic campaign of French rugby clubs in the Champions Cup continues. Five teams in the quarter-finals, three in the semi-finals, and two in the final: Toulouse, quadruple winner of the event, will face La Rochelle on Saturday, May 22, a novice at this stage of the European competition.

The Rochelais delivered a new big match on Sunday, May 2 at home, to eliminate the Irish from Leinster (32-23), who fell to defending champion Exeter in the previous round.

Read also Toulouse beats Bordeaux-Bègles and qualifies for the final of the European Rugby Cup

As in 2003, 2005, 2010, 2013 and 2015, two French clubs will be on the roof of Europe, moreover at Twickenham, the London stadium, the Mecca of English rugby. The configuration was successful in Toulouse, winner the first three times, then in Toulon.

Since the round of 16, Lyon is the only French team to have been eliminated by a foreign club (Exeter), not to mention Toulon, which had to forfeit before the match against Leinster because of the cases of Covid-19 in its workforce. .

In this season still disrupted by the pandemic, the French clubs have best managed the uncertainties. Of course, they also took advantage of the absence of the Saracens, the English club having been disqualified for having violated the “salary cap” in its championship, or the elimination of Exeter, defending champion, by another foreign ogre, the Leinster.

Robbie Henshaw and the Irish attacks were contained by the La Rochelle defense line.

The French clubs shone, with, in the round of 16, the feat of Toulouse in Munster and the victory of Clermont in the snatch against the English of the Wasps, or the course of the Rochelais, successively winners of the English of Gloucester and Sale then, Sunday, from Leinster.

At the end of the competition, the Toulouse and Rochelais, largely at the top of the ranking of the regular season of the Top 14, the national championship, will meet for the European star.

Read also Rugby: La Rochelle qualifies for the semi-finals of the European Cup

Leinster suffocated in the second half

Although deprived of his master to play Jonathan Sexton, insufficiently recovered from a concussion, the Irish province had all the ogre against the Maritimes. She had the experience of four European titles, as well as the last successful meetings against French clubs, such as the final against Racing 92 in 2018, or the demonstration against Toulouse in the semi-finals the following year.

The Rochelais had heart and lucidity, under the sun and the wind of the Marcel-Deflandre stadium. Manhandled at the start of the match, they gradually ramped up to shut down the Dublin players.

The intensity set by La Rochelle peaked at the 65e minute, with a try from the French international Gregory Alldritt, after several long minutes to siege the Irish goal line. He allowed the Maritimes to take a nine point lead (25-16), a first clear gap in their favor after chasing the score all the first part of the match (13-12 at halftime for the Irish) .

The ecstasy of the test over, the Rochelais immediately returned to the match, without ever breaking the embrace that suffocated Leinster during the entire second period. The Irish, so domineering at the start of the match, seemed lost on the pitch, seeking their breath as much as their benchmarks.

A month without a match for the Irish

The maritime supporters were very present before the match.

They may have suffered from the absence of a match for a month, and their quarter-final of the European Cup, because their Pro 14 championship (which brings together the Irish, Welsh, Scots and Italians) ended at the end. March with their fourth consecutive coronation.

The experience was ultimately La Rochelle that flaunted it, especially when second-row Will Skelton, double winner of the event with the Saracens, scored the second try. The New Zealander was also one of the first to sound the charge after a more chaotic start to the match.

The Rochelais had made unusual mistakes, like poor receptions from Dillyn Leyds, embarrassed by the sun. They were penalized with five penalties in the first ten minutes, playing shorthanded for ten minutes after the yellow card received by South African third row Wiaan Liebenberg.

The balance sheet in terms of penalties was reversed at the final whistle: the Rochelais were sanctioned eleven times, which is in line with the standards of international matches, against fourteen times for the Irish. And if the Leinster played more than La Rochelle (171 passes against 119), the La Rochelle forwards annihilated a number of attacks and won as many balls. The Toulouse Stadium is warned: its past – four times winner of the European Cup – will not help it against an uninhibited Stade Rochelais.

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