Leyds hands La Rochelle perfect platform for Euro semis
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: La Rochelle’s South African wing Dillyn Leyds scored as they beat Clermont 26-13 in the French Top 14 on Saturday ahead of next weekend’s Champions Cup semifinal against Exeter Chiefs.
Champions Cup holders La Rochelle welcome the English side to a sold-out Matmut Atlantique, which holds 42 000 people.
Leyds claimed a 78th-minute bonus point with his try as his club moved within a point of Toulouse.
The home side led 19-0 at the break on the sun-kissed Atlantic coast after Argentina prop Joel Sclavi, flank Paul Boudehent and Leyds’ fellow wing Teddy Thomas crossed.
The response from two-time French champions Clermont came 10 minutes after the break as young scrumhalf Baptiste Jauneau found a way over.
Flyhalf Anthony Belleau and his replacement Jules Plisson took the score to 19-13 after an hour.
Leyds scored his sixth try of the season late on as Ronan O’Gara’s team stretched their unbeaten run to eight games.
“It would be a lie to say that no one is thinking about the semi-final, but we needed points in the Top 14,” La Rochelle fullback Brice Dulin told reporters.
“There were moments when they made things difficult for us so it’s the perfect preparation for next week,” he added.
Trouble for Toulouse
Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola revealed fullback Melvyn Jaminet is likely to miss next weekend’s Champions Cup semi-final after suffering an ankle injury in the 19-10 French Top 14 loss at Stade Francais on Saturday.
French international Jaminet, 23, left the field in the first half on a stretcher, a week before next Saturday’s trip to Leinster in the last four.
“I’m not a doctor but apparently everything cracked,” Mola told reporters.
“We’ll take the time to do the necessary tests. It looks bad for the coming two, three weeks,” he added.
Mola made eight changes from last weekend’s win over Lyon, including resting the likes of half-backs Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, highlighting the importance of the Champions Cup to record five-time winners.
Toulouse remain top of the table despite defeat as the third-placed Parisians move six points behind La Rochelle, in second, with three rounds of the regular season remaining.
French rugby’s two most decorated sides were equal at 10-10 after half an hour as the visitors’ Pierre Fouyssac responded to Lester Etien’s early try.
Jaminet and the Parisians’ Joris Segonds slotted penalty goals in front of a sold-out crowd at Stade Jean-Bouin, the first full-house since 2015.
With four minutes of the half to play, however, Jaminet was carried off the field after a tackle on the touchline and was walking on crutches at full-time.
Flyhalf Segonds, the league’s top points scorer this season, made sure of the victory with three further penalties after the break.
