TOPS
Author of La Rochelle’s second try after forcefully flattening the ball in the opposing goal, Grégory Alldritt is one of the main architects of his team’s qualification. With 11 tackles and 38 meters covered, the captain and third row was present in the fight. The only downside is his missed tackle which slightly tarnishes his statistics sheet.
Dominated and harmless in the first period against solid Stormers players, the Rochelais returned from the locker room with better intentions and managed to win by forceps. As if a new match had started, all the mistakes of the first forty minutes were erased. Like Danty’s scratch in the final moments, the Rochelais suffered together. A real qualification obtained as a team.
FLOPS
Despite an outside temperature of 21 degrees, in addition to the sun, the wind was also there. Announced at more than 40 km/h, it will not have made the game easier, especially in the first period. And it’s not the Rochelais who will say the opposite. Hastoy and his teammates failed to deploy their game, without ever finding solutions with their feet and had to favor short passes. The La Rochelle opener also missed a penalty in the first period, partly because of the wind.
Author of an almost flawless footing (4/5) and a superb pass for Hartzenberg’s try, Libbok did not come far from the perfect match. And yet, the South African will surely blame himself for days or even weeks. In fact, he missed the conversion to win at the very end of the match. A miss which costs the Stormers victory and qualification.
13 fouls whistled against the Stormers and 12 against the Rochelais. Mr. Carley, the referee of the match, will have had work to do. Penverne and his teammates will have played 20 minutes at 14 after receiving two yellow cards (Skelton in the first half, Lleyds at the end of the match). They were also sanctioned for collapsed scrums. On the local side, the observation is the same. After a first period without notable errors, the Stormers also received a yellow card during the second period and conceded a large number of penalties, often kicked into touch by their opponents.