Sale Sharks smell La Rochelle blood in the water

The quarter-finals will kick off at Stade Marcel-Deflandre as La Rochelle host Sale Sharks.

The French outfit had the better of the Cherry & Whites last weekend in a 27-16 victory at Kingsholm. Just two points separated the teams at half-time after both ran in two tries apiece. The remainder of the points in the game came from penalties – La Rochelle knocking over four and Gloucester only one. It was clear that Gloucester – whose form is generally somewhat off the pace this season – came to play, but La Rochelle, who are knocking on the door of the number 1 spot of the Top 14, were not going to be easily brushed aside.

Sale Sharks will be riding a wave of confidence after they dismembered Scarlets 57-14 at Parc y Scarlets. A quareter of an hour past before the first try was scored after a typically bullocking run by Sale hooker Akker van der Merwe. The Springbok was in scintillating form and dotted down Sale’s second try 15 minutes later to give his side a lead of 20 points.

It was six minutes into the second half before Scarlets finally got onto the scoreboard courtesy of Ken Owens who forced his way over for a try but Sale were running rampant – Marland Yarde diving over in the corner shortly thereafter to take the score to 37-7.

Sale continued the rout and left Scarlets with few positives to salvage from the encounter.  

Match facts:

La Rochelle and Sale Sharks, who clash at Stade Marcel Deflandre on Saturday, met twice in last season’s pool stage with the home club winning on each occasion.

Sale’s one previous quarter-final appearance was in 2006 when they were defeated by Biarritz Olympique.

This will be La Rochelle’s first Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at home. In their one previous appearance in 2018, they lost 29-17 at Parc y Scarlets.