Ultan Dillane: At half time we were told we were 'throwing away a legacy'

Manie Libbok reacts after missing a late conversion as the Stormers lost by a point to La Rochelle in the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 match at DHL Stadium in Cape Town. Photograph: EJ Langner/Inpho/Steve Haag Sports

La Rochelle lock Ultan Dillane said that the theme of his team’s half-time Champions Cup talk in the bowels of the DHL Stadium in Cape Town was that they were “throwing away a legacy”.

The defending champions, 13-0 down at that stage and soon to be 16-0 behind minutes into the second period, rallied to beat the Stormers 22-21 to set up a Champions Cup quarterfinal in Dublin against Leinster.

Dillane described the half time team talk as not fit for polite conversation. Lock Will Skelton was yellow-carded in the first half for repeated infringements and the French unit barely held on.

“I don’t think the halftime conversation is PG enough to repeat, but in summary the message was, ‘what the hell are we doing?’” Dillane said.

“We’re throwing away a legacy here and we’re throwing away our full potential over 40 minutes of rugby that was not really us.” Stormers fly half Manie Libbok missed an injury-time conversion to send his side through, but in the treacherously windy conditions, the kick was always a lottery.

The national weather authority in South Africa issued a warning for the Western Cape on Friday as gale force winds roared off False Bay, across the Cape Flats to the plush suburb of Green Point.

In those conditions the match was always going to be tricky, and it was the Stormers that nearly blew the visitors away in the first half. Their sizeable lead was the least the home team deserved.

But it came at a cost. In the first half they lost Springbok World Cup-winner Deon Fourie to a serious knee injury. That came minutes after marauding flank Ben-Jason Dixon, another supreme talent off the SA loose forward production line, was concussed.

It got worse as they lost two more players – replacement flank Hacjivah Dayimani and lock Salmaan Moerat – to head injuries in the second half and wing Leolin Zas to a serious ankle injury. By the end the Stormers had a hooker at flank and a lock at No 8.

Through their disruptions, and a much better tactical approach from La Rochelle after the break, the French giants slowly chipped away at the lead as the Stormers literally and figuratively started to fall apart.

With the wind behind them, La Rochelle took control through their impressive pack. Rolling maul tries for prop Louis Penverne, No 8 Gregory Alldrit and replacement prop Joel Scalvi gave them the lead and they held on.

La Rochelle haven’t been in vintage form this season, but their memories of Leinster and Dublin remain massively positive. It will be a colossal contest at the Aviva this weekend.

La Rochelle could do nothing right in the first half, playing into the fierce wind, which also swirled around the impressive stadium on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

They threw long, looping passes in the wind and kicked poorly. They spent much of the half in their own territory. But they defended strongly, and the damage could have been much worse.

The Stormers scored a beautiful try that was started by fullback Warrick Gelant from deep and involved the slick feet and hands of Libbok and Damian Willemse.

La Rochelle Coach Ronan O’Gara, who did not appear for the post-match press conference, but spoke to L’Equipe after the game, called the first half 'catastrophic'.

Although the Stormers scored a try on the stroke of full-time through wing Suleiman Hartzenberg, who ran on to a precise Libbok cross-field kick, Gregory Alldrit cut him off from getting too close to the uprights.

“We backed our defence in those final minutes,” Dillane said. “But we knew that if they did score, we had to make sure it was out wide, because the conditions were extremely difficult for kicking.

“So as long as it was on the edges we knew the wind was horrible.” Libbok landed a match-winning conversion against La Rochelle at the same venue in their Pool clash last December to give the Stormers a 21-20 win. But that day was hot and still.

“There was a feeling of deja vu about the final kick, but fate was on our side today,” Dillane said.