Rugby

Defending champions La Rochelle squeeze through as Stormers miss late conversion

Champions Cup round-up: Bulls score nine tries in 59-19 victory over Lyon; Bordeaux-Bègles hammer Saracens; Exeter sink Bath

Manie Libbok reacts after missing a late conversion as the Stormers lost by a point to La Rochelle in the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 match at DHL Stadium in Cape Town. Photograph: EJ Langner/Inpho/Steve Haag Sports

Sat Apr 6 2024 - 20:10

Defending champions La Rochelle scraped through to the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals after Manie Libbok missed a last-gasp conversion for Stormers in the 22-21 away victory.

It means Ronan O’Gara’s side will travel to Dublin next weekend to face Leinster in the quarter-finals if Leo Cullen’s side can see off Leicester in their Round of 16 tie at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night.

Libbok kicked 11 points and had the chance to dump out the holders after Suleiman Hartzenberg’s 79th-minute try, but dragged his conversion just wide.

The South Africa international outhalf put Stormers ahead with two penalties and they took advantage of Will Skelton’s yellow card as Herschel Jantjies scored their first try, Libbok adding the extras.

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He then extended their lead with another penalty 10 minutes into the second half for a 15-0 advantage.

Ronan O’Gara’s side raced back into the game through a Louis Penverne try, with Antoine Hastoy converting, before the outhalf added a penalty.

The French side took the lead through Gregory Alldritt’s converted try before Joel Sclavi added another touchdown before the late drama saw La Rochelle squeeze through.

A dominant Bulls scored nine tries to secure their spot in the last eight after thrashing Lyon 59-19.

Tries from Sebastian de Klerk, Embrose Papier and Marcell Coetzee gave Bulls the early advantage, with Johan Goosen adding the extras for all three.

Martin Page-Relo put Lyon on the board at the half-hour mark as Paddy Jackson converted but Ruan Vermaak extended Bulls’ advantage three minutes later with a converted try as they led 28-7 at the break.

An energetic start to the second half saw Lyon hit back through a penalty try, which saw Bulls centre Canan Moodie sinbinned as a result but the hosts quickly added two more tries through Willie le Roux and Papier, with Goosen only able to convert the latter before Thaakir Abrahams crossed for Lyon.

Bulls ran away with the game as David Kriel and Chris Smith crossed within four minutes of each other and Smith kicked the extras before de Klerk added his second of the afternoon with three minutes to go.

The result means that Munster will travel to South Africa to take on the Bulls in the quarter-finals if they can come through their Round of 16 game away to Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday.

Saracens bowed out despite a brave defensive performance for an hour in a 45-12 defeat at Bordeaux-Bègles.

Once the victory was assured for Bordeaux they ran riot, scoring six tries in all, to set up a home quarter-final against Harlequins next week.

The French side were denied no fewer than five first-half tries by TMO and assistant referee decisions, but outhalf Mateo Garcia scored two tries either side of the half-time interval to settle his side’s nerves.

Johann van Graan’s Bath side could not overcome the loss of injured outhalf Finn Russell as Exeter reached the quarter-finals by beating them 21-15 at a windswept Sandy Park.

Scotland star Russell departed the action after just 15 minutes, before his replacement Orlando Bailey went off hurt during the third quarter.

And the cumulative effect was too much for Bath to absorb as Exeter fought back – into the wind – from eight points adrift.

The Chiefs, tournament winners in 2020, scored tries through number eight Ross Vintcent, replacement Greg Fisilau and flanker Ethan Roots, with Roots’s England colleague Henry Slade kicking three conversions.

Bath claimed first-half touchdowns from prop Thomas du Toit and flanker Ted Hill, while captain Ben Spencer added a conversion and penalty, but they could not build on a 15-7 lead approaching the hour-mark.

Exeter will face French heavyweights Toulouse or Racing 92 in the quarter-finals next weekend, and they will take considerable confidence into the game, given the fierce resolve they showed to sink their west country rivals.

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