LA ROCHELLE PROVED their European Cup celebrations didn’t diminish their powers of recovery as they twice came from behind to win 29-26 away to Lyon.
The victory ensured Ronan O’Gara’s recently-crowned European champions qualified for the Top 14 play-offs, with a trip to Toulouse next up.
Castres await for the winners in the semi-finals while Racing 92 must overcome an away day at Bordeaux before Montpellier lie in wait.
O’Gara opted for 10 changes to the starting XV which secured a dramatic last-gasp win over Leinster. Such upheaval knocked out their rhythm with Lyon taking charge early courtesy of first-half tries from Dylan Cretin and Josua Tuisova for a 19-5 half-time lead.
But La Rochelle responded with a brace of tries after the re-start and that pushed them into the lead, although the advantage see-sawed in both directions before O’Gara’s men triumphed.
Elsewhere, Racing 92 won their crunch match with Toulon 21-16, and Castres notched up their 17th win of the campaign with a 26-16 victory away to Pau.
Despite losing 20-15 at Clermont, Montpellier joined Castres in the semi-finals, while Bourdeaux’s 22-15 defeat to Perpingnan prevented their direct route to the last four.