RECAP: La Rochelle v Sale Sharks
READERS’ FORUM: Welcome to our live coverage of the European Cup quarterfinal match between La Rochelle and Sale Sharks at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.
Both sides are hoping to win the competition for the first time.
The Premiership side will be buoyed by their emphatic triumph over Scarlets in the Round of 16 – a scintillating six try performance and 32-points from AJ MacGinty the catalyst for victory.
La Rochelle, meanwhile, secured their last-eight berth with a 27-16 win over Gloucester at Kingsholm and will be eager to defeat English opposition for the second consecutive round, this time on home soil.
* To read our pre-match predictions, CLICK HERE!
* Our live blog will appear below, it might take a little while to load, please be patient. We apologise for the inconvenience!
Teams
La Rochelle: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Grégory Alldritt, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Romain Sazy (captain), 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Reda Wardi.
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Arthur Joly, 19 Thomas Lavault, 20 Wiaan Liebenberg, 21 Thomas Berjon, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Pierre Aguillon.
Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Sam James, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Josh Beaumont (captain), 4 Jacobus Wiese, 3 Willgriff John, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 James Phillips, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Raphael Quirke, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Luke James.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Thomas Charabas (France)
TMO: Brian MacNiece (Ireland)
