HOLDERS LA Rochelle booked their place in the knockout stage of the Champions Cup with a hard-fought 37-24 win over Sale at a windy Salford Stadium on Sunday.
The French side, who were in danger of missing qualification completely after losing their opening two fixtures in December, ran in four tries from Dillyn Leyds, Antoine Hastoy, Tawere Kerr-Barlow and UJ Seuteni.
Fly-half Hastoy, left out of France’s Six Nations squad this week, was also outstanding off the tee, weighing in with three penalties and three conversions for a personal tally of 20 points.
“We are happy to get to the next stage,” said La Rochelle captain Gregory Alldritt.
“(It’s) Something huge for us being two-time champions. We have a little possibility now of making it three times in a row so we will fight to the end.
“We showed everyone we can play anyone anywhere.”
La Rochelle’s win sees them finish third in Pool 4 ahead of Leicester who take the final qualifying spot. Sale ended fifth and drop into the Challenge Cup.
Playing into the wind, Sale made the brighter start with wing Tom Roebuck spilling the ball with the line at his mercy.
But it was the visitors who got the first score seven minutes in. A charge down off Robert du Preez’s kick bounced kindly for Dillyn Leyds to kick through and collect.
The former Springbok wing still had plenty of work to do, muscling his way through the tacklers to dot down over the line.
Hastoy converted and added a penalty before Sale lost Jonny Hill to a nasty knee injury that saw the flanker stretchered off.
Three minutes before half-time Hastoy popped over a penalty in front of the posts and added a far more difficult one from out wide to make it 16-0 at the break.
La Rochelle were fast out of the blocks in the second half as a turnover by Levani Botia created a counter-attack that culminated in Hastoy scampering through for their second try.
Shortly after former All Black scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow dived over for the third with Hastoy’s conversion making it 30-0.
After Roebuck and fellow wing Arron Reed both had tries ruled out, Sale finally got on the board just before the hour when Roebuck, with plenty of space out on the right, strolled in for their first try.
La Rochelle were under pressure and soon down to 13 men as both Hastoy and full-back Brice Dulin were sent to the sin bin, Sale capitalising through hooker Agustin Creevy.
Seuteni ended home hopes, though, with an intercept try that secured the victory and the bonus point.
Late tries from Sam Dugdale and Telusa Veainu enabled Sale to narrow the gap and collect a bonus point but it was little consolation for a defeat that marks the end of their Champions Cup hopes.
