So much for Exeter’s Last Dance. This was a waltz for La Rochelle, a walloping for the Chiefs. They had hoped to wave goodbye to so many departing club stalwarts in style this season but the brutal reality is they were steamrollered by a La Rochelle side who blend power and panache to devastating effect and are now into their third successive Champions Cup final.
Grégory Alldritt produced the kind of performance that made him Europe’s premier back-rower not so long ago but La Rochelle’s dominance was all over the pitch – the outside centre UJ Seuteni particularly catching the eye – as they ran in seven tries.
They are giving up home advantage to Leinster in the final – a rematch of last season’s – but they have proved themselves Europe’s most formidable side in recent years and it is a fool who bets against them retaining their crown. They have also seen off England’s two most recent champions in successive rounds in a manner that suggests the Premiership is unlikely to provide a winner of this competition for a while yet.
For Exeter, it is a defeat that lays bare the distance they have fallen in recent years. There is a rebuild afoot in Devon – only three of the starting XV from their 2020 title-winning side will be at the club next season – and they rode their luck to reach the last four, squeezing past Montpellier before rolling back the years against a Stormers side who simply did not show up. This was an emphatic end to their campaign, however, and a result that demonstrates just how far off the pace Premiership clubs lag behind their rivals.
The Chiefs, in their current guise, are not quite done yet with the final Premiership match of the season against London Irish this week before they go their separate ways. They can at least reflect on the most prosperous period in the club’s history including two Premiership titles and one European Cup and the end of a golden era.
Rob Baxter, the director of rugby, said: “I’ve just said to the lads in the changing room, there are two stories, the incredible group of players who have had incredible success together and been a part of the most successful period in the club’s history and achieved a fantastic amount together.
“But if there’s ever a place to go out, I don’t think this was the worst place, there was an incredible atmosphere. It just got away from us today.”
Exeter were always up against it and the fearsome welcome they received emphasised the task facing them. This match took place 100 miles and loose change away from La Rochelle and while the Chiefs sold their allocation of 2,500 they were drowned out in a sea of black and yellow. The La Rochelle faithful call themselves “the Convicts” – a reference to the hooped jerseys in which their side used to play – and evidently they were taking no prisoners. Exeter were wildly booed as they emerged for their warmup and La Rochelle fervently cheered from the moment the team bus arrived through a stifling cloud of smoke. French rugby supporters know how to build an atmosphere.
“Everything was yellow and black, you cannot imagine the strength that gives us on the field,” Alldritt said. “I don’t think it was the perfect match. There’s no point in playing the perfect match in the semis, it’s better to do it in the final.”
To their credit, Exeter withstood the opening onslaught and scored the first try through Sam Simmonds after a bold decision to kick a penalty to the corner – the No 8 catching La Rochelle out with a pick-and-go from a subsequent penalty. That was as good as it got for the Chiefs, however. La Rochelle have a remarkable ability to grind teams down with an unerring power before sparking into life and producing moments of magic. It was one of those that got them level – Antoine Hastoy with a delightful chip into space behind before Raymond Rhule kicked ahead and splashed over.
La Rochelle lost Levani Botia to a head injury midway through the first half but his fellow back-row Alldritt was in inspired form. He showed soft hands to put Ulupano Seuteni through a gap for La Rochelle’s second try and finished off the third after a powerful shove at a scrum deep in Exeter territory. Exeter had lost Dan Frost to the sin-bin for bringing down a maul just beforehand – a sign of La Rochelle’s mounting dominance.
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The contest was effectively over before half-time when Tawera Kerr‑Barlow scampered over after an eye-catching run from the loosehead prop Reda Wardi before Rhule added No 5 after a fine crossfield kick from Hastoy. La Rochelle were in full flight by this stage, Exeter wilting.
Pierre Bourgarit went over at the back of a maul for the sixth try and, though Josh Iosefa-Scott registered Exeter’s second, La Rochelle were unrelenting – Kerr-Barlow darting over after his forwards had made countless dents for his second. Olly Woodburn and Jack Yeandle added consolation scores for Exeter but the game was long up by then.
