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Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle beat Montpellier to reach Champions Cup semis
By PA
La Rochelle booked their place in the Heineken Champions Cup semi-finals with a 31-19 win over Montpellier at the Stade Marcel Deflandre.
Dany Priso scored under the posts to settle the hosts, with Ihaia West converting and also adding a penalty inside the opening 20 minutes.
Victor Vito went over to further extend the lead, with West again adding the additional points.
Montpellier gave themselves hope heading into the break with a try from prop Henry Thomas, which was converted by Louis Foursans-Bourdette to reduce the deficit to 17-7.
The visitors continued their momentum as Yvan Reilhac drove over from a loose ball, but Levani Botia’s try in the corner soon restored La Rochelle’s cushion.
A try from Zach Mercer on the left flank kept Montpellier in touch before West landed three penalties, taking his total points tally to 16, to push La Rochelle through to a semi-final against either Top 14 rivals Racing 92 or Sale Sharks.
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Latest Comments
If you want to be overly simplistic, then you can look at it like that.
AB’s lost at home by 8 vs Los Pumas, in my book that is a bigger loss than by 1 vs Ireland considering where they are in terms of quality.
Losing by a point away to Los Pumas with 11 changes is also acceptable given the exposure that new players got.
Go to commentsMarcus Smith perhaps, but not Finn Russel. He did nothing against the Springboks, whereas Marcus Smith was consistently outstanding in all the games he played. Had he stayed on the park against the All Blacks, then England would probably have won the game
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