Champions Cup: La Rochelle 47-28 Exeter Chiefs - holders power into final
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Exeter enjoyed a superb run to the semi-finals but came up against an inspired La Rochelle
Heineken Champions Cup semi-final: La Rochelle v Exeter |
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La Rochelle: (26) 47 |
Tries: Rhule 2, Seuteni, Alldritt, Kerr-Barlow 2, Bourgarit Cons: Hastoy 6 |
Exeter Chiefs: (7) 28 |
Tries: S Simmonds, Iosefa-Scott, Woodburn, Yeandle Cons: J Simmonds 4 |
Exeter Chiefs' bid to reach the Champions Cup final was ended by a ruthless semi-final display by holders La Rochelle in Bordeaux.
Sam Simmonds gave Exeter an early lead but Raymond Rhule, UJ Seuteni, Gregory Aldritt and Tawera Kerr-Barlow gave the hosts a commanding 26-7 half-time lead.
Rhule and Kerr-Barlow both scored again and Pierre Bourgarit also went over as the hosts ran Exeter ragged.
Josh Iosefa-Scott, Olly Woodburn and Jack Yeandle replied for Exeter.
Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle will face Leinster - the team they beat to lift the trophy last year - in the final in Dublin on 20 May.
Exeter undone by La Rochelle power
UJ Seuteni scored one of his side's four tries in the first half
With so many Exeter players set to leave the club at the end of the season, their European Cup run was billed as the last dance for the team that lifted the trophy in 2020.
Number eight Simmonds, one of the departing stars from that triumph, gave Exeter the perfect start by bursting over from close range.
But the hosts, backed by a raucous sell-out crowd of 41,000 at Matmut Atlantique stadium, responded almost immediately. Left wing Rhule sped onto a deft kick into empty space, hacked on and dived over the line.
La Rochelle's giant pack took control of the game, dominating the scrum and the breakdown, and centre Sueteni's angled run through a gap in Exeter's defence put the hosts into the lead.
Olly Woodburn put his body on the line to hold up Gregory Alldritt's claim for a try, but Exeter's chances were dealt a huge double blow.
First, Scotland lock Jonny Gray had to be carried off the field with a left ankle injury and then hooker Dan Frost was sent to the sin-bin for bringing down a maul.
With the Chiefs down to 14, France number eight Alldritt picked up the ball from the base of a scrum and waltzed over unopposed on the blind-side and then Tawera Kerr-Barlow finished off a superb team move to notch the hosts' fourth try just before the interval.
La Rochelle show class in carnival atmosphere
Rhule scored La Rochelle's fifth try early on in the second half
Exeter 's hopes of a second-half comeback did not last long as fly-half Antoine Hastoy's cross-field kick found Rhule in space and the South African wing dived over for his second try.
Hooker Bourgarit was next to touch down following a line-out maul as the hosts clinched their place in the final for a third straight year with almost 40 minutes remaining.
With the crowd - dominated by La Rochelle fans - creating a carnival atmosphere, the French side showed all their attacking flair with a superb seventh try.
Player of the match Seuteni produced a no-look 30-yard pass to kick-start a flowing move that ended with scrum-half Kerr-Barlow powering over for his second try.
To their credit, Exeter did not totally collapse and scored three tries to give their fans something to cheer, but the brilliance of La Rochelle's display sets up a dream final against a Leinster side many have seen as favourites for the title all season.
Baxter has faith in Exeter's youth as era ends
Club stalwarts Jack Nowell and Stuart Hogg helped Exeter win the Premiership and Champions Cup in 2020
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter was disappointed with his side's defeat but expressed excitement about the club's future.
Sam and Joe Simmonds, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell, Stuart Hogg and Jannes Kirsten are among a number of stars set to leave after the club's final game of the season on Saturday.
"I am going to miss these guys because they are amazing players and I count some of them as life-long friends of mine and we have done some incredible things together," he said.
"We have been on a journey together for 12, 13, 14 years with some of them, but I am also looking forward to next year because I would like to start a journey with some of these other players.
"It will be amazing to watch guys like Will Becconsall, Tom Wyatt and Tom Cairns, guys who have just got into the team, and Christ Tshiunza and Daf Jenkins.
"It will be amazing to watch these guys lift a trophy one day, and that's what we have got to focus on now.
"This will add layers of experience to some of our young guys who have not been here that long and have not played many games for us."
Line-ups
La Rochelle: Dulin; Leyds, Seuteni, Favre, Rhule; Hastoy, Kerr-Barlow; Wardi, Bourgarit, Atonio, Sazy, Skelton, Dillane, Botia, Alldritt (capt).
Replacements: Lespiaucq, Sclavi, Colombe Reazel, Lavault, Boudehent, Bourdeau, Berjon, Thomas.
Exeter: Wyatt; Nowell (capt), Slade, O'Brien, Woodburn; J Simmonds, Becconsall; Sio, Frost, Street, Kirsten, Gray, Vermeulen, Tshiunza, S Simmonds.
Replacements: Yeandle, Abuladze, Iosefa-Scott, Davis, Ewers, Townsend, Skinner, Hogg
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)