Clinical La Rochelle end Simon Zebo's French adventure and march onto Top 14 final

Racing 92's Simon Zebo late in the game. Picture: INPHO/Dave Winter

La Rochelle 19 Racing 6

La Rochelle booked their first-ever Top 14 final place with a clinical and perfectly executed win over Racing 92 in Lille.

It was a result that ended the Racing careers of Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan.

French health restrictions meant only 5,000 fans were allowed inside the 50,100-capacity Stade Pierre Mauroy - a very different ground these days from the one that witnessed Munster and Ronan O'Gara's Heineken Cup nightmare in 2001. That was the day John O'Neill's try was controversially ruled out, and opponents Stade Francais won 16-15 before going on to lose the final against Leicester in Paris.

This match had been billed in France as the honest sons of French soil against the champagne supernovas. But it was hard to tell which side was the former and which the latter, as La Rochelle kept their more expensively assembled opponents at arms' length all night.

If anyone had been looking to recent history for a clue to the result, they would be none the wiser. There had been little to choose between the sides in their two meetings so far this season. La Rochelle won 9-6 at Marcel Deflandre, while Racing were 26-22 victors at La Defense Arena. In the play-offs in 2019, O'Gara's La Rochelle had upset Racing 19-13 on home soil, before losing 20-6 against eventual winners Toulouse in the semi-finals in Bordeaux.

There was certainly little in those recent matches to suggest that O'Gara's La Rochelle would be near-complete control at the end of the first half.

Racing had edged the opening 20 minutes on the scoreboard - but the signs were already there that the Rochelais had the upper hand where it mattered, on the pitch and in the forwards.

And they proved it in a dominant closing quarter. In the next 10 minutes, they scored 13 unanswered points to open up a 10-point lead that would prove unassailable as they ratcheted the pressure all the way up to 11. And then 12.

In that time, Ihaia West - near-perfect off the tee all night - kicked two penalties, and a conversion, but it was Arthur Retiere's try that set the crowd alight, as he latched on to Brice Dulin's inch-perfect kick over the top of Racing's line to blitz over in the corner despite the attention of three defenders.

La Rochelle’s Ihaia West rises high to claim possesion under pressure from Racing92’s Kurtley Beale. Picture: Francois Lo Presti/AFP via Getty Images

What followed was an object lesson in how to play knockout rugby - a lesson that has been part of O'Gara's DNA since his Munster and Ireland days. Racing did not score a single point after the 14th minute of the game.

As the increasingly rattled and tetchy Franciliens continued to take unnecessary risks from all corners of the pitch, La Rochelle simply, and without fuss, cleaned-up, and kept their opponents' much-vaunted back line at bay.

A lineout 10m from La Rochelle's line was the closest Racing got in the dying minutes of the opening half. And Will Skelton dealt with the lineout threat.

West put the game just about beyond doubt 10 minutes into the second half, kicking an easy penalty after another extended period of pressure. That was the last time the scoreboard was troubled.

Zebo's arrival with 25 minutes left promised to briefly flickered Racing's flame - but La Rochelle's fans who had made the trip north were already celebrating. They are a dedicated bunch, who sell-out Marcel Deflandre week-in, week-out - and now they have a first-ever Top 14 final against either Toulouse or Bordeaux to look forward to.

Their control was total with 18 minutes on the clock, as, with the Stade's roof open, heavy summer rain started to fall. West, finally missed from the tee - and was replaced by Jules Plisson, job done.

While Racing had been replacing and re-replacing players for much of the game, Gibbes and O'Gara had been able to keep back their replacements. And, with 15 minutes left, they unleashed them. As well as Plisson, Thomas Lavault, Victor Vito and Arthur Joly came on in quick succession - fresh legs and minds to finish the game.

Everything Racing had tried failed. La Rochelle shut them down time and again. And a French rugby truth stands: Gael Fickou has yet to feature in a final as a professional.

LA ROCHELLE: Dulin; Leyds, Rhule, Favre, Retière (Sweetnam 79'); West (Plisson 66'), Kerr-Barlow (Le Bail 71'); Gourdon (Vito 65'), Alldritt, Lienbenberg; Skelton (Sazy 78'), Sazy (Lavault 62'); Atonio (Joly 65'), Bosch (Lagrange 70'), Wardi (Priso 61').

RACING 92: Beale; Thomas, Vakatawa, Fickou, Dupichot (Zebo 54'); Russell, Machenaud (Iribaren 48'); Diallo, Claassen (Lauret 54'), Palu; Bird (Ryan 61'), Le Roux (Bird 78'), Gomes Sa (Colombe 51'), Baubigny (Le Guen 41' / Gomes Sa 63'), Kolingar (Gogichashvili 42-50').

Not used: Trinh-Duc.