At the end of a hotly contested match, La Rochelle narrowly failed against Leinster, this Sunday at Marcel-Deflandre (14-16). Led for a large part of the meeting, the Maritimes pushed until the end, in vain. Antoine Hastoy notably hit the post with a decisive penalty in the final moments, before being blocked with a drop.
The blow did not go far for La Rochelle. A few centimeters in fact. Or what Antoine Hastoy missed so that his distant and late penalty ended up between the poles rather than on the protection of the post. As a result, it is Leinster who once again leave Marcel-Deflandre victorious (16-14) at the end of an intense and committed game.
An ideal start
From the outset, the Rochelais showed that they entered the pitch with better intentions than last week. At the end of a first sequence of possession full of mastery, Antoine Hastoy quickly opened the scoring, with a penalty of more than 40 meters (5e). Not to be outdone, the young Sam Prendergast responds following a slightly confused action where Paul Boudehent recovers, in an offside position, a very rough foot control from Brice Dulin (12e). Conquering and determined, the Maritimes then managed to hold the ball – 56% possession during this first act – but came up against the aggressive defense of the Irish. Hastoy, however, manages to double the lead for La Rochelle (26e). After twenty long minutes of suffering, the Leinstermen accelerated. Following a nice combination in touch, Joe McCarthy, alerted in the closed side following an inside throw for Jamie Osborne, scored the first try of this meeting (30e). With the transformation of Prendergast, Leinster leads by four points at the break (10-6) against the Rochelais who are willing but deprived of Uini Atonio and Reda Wardi, both out with injuries.
More information to come…
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