Ihaia West takes pride in La Rochelle’s ability to build scoreboard pressure

Tue, 04 May, 2021 - 06:00

Simon Lewis

There was plenty for Ihaia West to contemplate as the fly-half savoured La Rochelle’s advancement to the Heineken Champions Cup final, not just the manner of their semi-final success over Leinster but the achievement of reaching the decider for the first time.

Sunday’s 32-23 victory on home soil at Stade Marcel Deflandre had ousted the four-time champions and though it had taken 65 minutes to score the first of La Rochelle’s two tries, there had been an air of inevitability about the French club’s rise to supremacy having conceded an eighth-minute Tadhg Furlong score against the backdrop of early indiscipline.