La Rochelle squeezed past Racing 92 20-13 in a tense all-French affair at a sparsely-populated Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens on Sunday to reach their second straight Champions Cup final, where they will meet Irish side Leinster.
Ihaia West redeemed himself after missing three kicks off the tee by scoring a late try to break Racing’s resilience, with La Rochelle’s sustained period of pressure in the closing stages helping them hang on for victory.
The match was relocated to the north of France as hosts Racing’s Paris La Defense Arena was unavailable because of a clash with a concert.
Nolann Le Garrec’s penalty for Racing and Virimi Vakatawa’s try left La Rochelle trailing 10-3 leading up to halftime, but Gregory Alldritt powered over the line to reduce the deficit.
La Rochelle were unable to take advantage of Racing being reduced to 13 for eight minutes after the break and Le Garrec missed two shots on goal before West shrugged off his earlier errors to touch down in the final minute of play.
Beaten by Toulouse in last year’s showpiece at Twickenham, La Rochelle will look to secure their first Champions Cup title when they clash with four-time winners Leinster at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on May 28.
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