La Rochelle 45-21 Sale: Sharks outclassed as hosts book place in the Champions Cup semi-finals

What a difference a week makes! Having blown apart the Scarlets with six tries last weekend to reach the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years, Sale Sharks found themselves on the wrong end of a six-try hammering in La Rochelle.

Despite reaching half-time only two points in arrears, the Sharks, who came into the game boasting the best defensive record in the Premiership, leaked four more tries as their dreams of a first semi-final in the top tier of European competition were shattered.

Sale boss Alex Sanderson said: ‘I thought we were at the races after an extremely competitive first half in which we gave them some relatively soft tries. But we weren’t in the second half.

La Rochelle claimed a place in the Champions Cup semi-finals for the first time

‘We had parity in most of the collisions around the field, but it went wrong for us against their set-piece power. I knew the players would keep fighting and I was proud of their effort. It is a learning curve for us and you have to lose games like these before you can come back and win them. This is only the beginning for us and we will bounce back.’

Having worked their way back to within two points with a superb try from centre Sam James on the stroke of half-time it looked as though the Sharks might well gone on and upset the odds.

Then two tries in the opening 12 minutes of the second half from wing Raymond Rhule tilted the game firmly in favour of the home side and two more from centre Geoffrey Doumayrou put the French side into final four.

Bryon McGuigan picked up a consolation score for the visitors at the end.

La Rochelle’s Dillyn Leyds sprinted clear after taking the ball off the toes of Faf de Klerk