In the semi-final in three weeks, Ronan O'Gara's players will continue their English triptych with the Exeter program, this time at the Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux, in a duel between the defending champion and the winner of the truncated event of 2020, less glamorous on paper than the umpteenth battle of the chefs between Leinster and Toulouse, opposed to Dublin as last year at this stage.

Never +Sarries+ and Maritimes had crossed paths but their all-star fight (one for Gregory Alldritt's teammates, three for those of Owen Farrell), with the air of reunion for many internationals of both camps and for the Australian colossus Will Skelton, four times titled in the London ranks (two continental and two Premiership), will remain in the memories of the Deflandre stadium, More serene than last weekend.

As expected, this quarter was less removed than the previous three with only three tries scored and defenses at the height of the event, including La Rochelle.

He confirmed the preponderance of Levani Botia, expert in rucks who, if he had not put on the crampons this Sunday afternoon, could have dug up all the cobblestones too prominent of the Arenberg gap.

What a construction site for an hour to disarm +Sarries+, winning machine and European reference a few years ago before being taken up for wage fraud, but strongly and surprisingly undisciplined and therefore sanctioned by the whistle of the Irishman Andrew Brace, much less influential than last weekend between Exeter and Montpellier.

La Rochelle fly-half Antoine Hastoy, during the Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens on Sunday at the Marcel-Deflandre © stadium ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP

Sarries powerless

Beyond the ground fight, the Fijian, elected man of the match, brought his ear in the game with several devastating charges, before this crossing at the hour of play followed by a service to the small onions for the double of Tawera Kerr-Barlow, synonymous with real break (21-3).

As expected, the local power did damage on each impact, with the only Maro Itoje able to respond on the length. Antoine Hastoy, at 5 of 7 against the poles, improved the score, as well as Kerr-Barlow, who chose an oblique race to reward the first highlight of his own with percussion hurting the passage of Pierre Bourgarit and Reda Wardi (16-3, 34).

And the +Sarries+ in all this? Apart from the scrum, they showed weaknesses in the majority of areas and of the five times they really got close to the line, they only broke through it once by the incoming Eroni Mawi (21-10, 62).

The others, whether on balls carried following penalties or on scrum, were either boxed like Nick Tompkins (52), or could not flatten after reaching the promised land (74, 75) while they were playing in numerical superiority (yellow card for Brice Dulin).

La Rochelle full-back Brice Dulin and Saracens third row Ben Earl during the Champions Cup quarter-final in La Rochelle on Sunday © ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP

The smugness of the caravel players had been pointed out by O'Gara after the qualification snatched against Gloucester (29-26). This time, the Irish manager will not be able to blame much for his fighters, ready for migration with their yellow and black people in three weeks to Bordeaux with the objective of inviting themselves a third time in a row to the final.

© 2023 AFP