La Rochelle player ratings: Antoine Hastoy and Gregory Alldritt star in Champions Cup title defence

Jared Wright
la rochelle champions cup gregory alldritt antoine hastoy

Following La Rochelle’s 27-26 victory over Leinster in the Champions Cup final, here is how we rated Ronan O’Gara’s charges as they successively defended their title.

15 Brice Dulin: Another great game from the full-back who made more metres in the match than any other player. His boot and ability to cover the backfield proved particularly handy for the champions. He looked to spark the attack with chips over the top and kept Leinster guessing. 8

14 Dillyn Leyds: The South African regularly came off his line looking for work and hardly put a foot wrong all match. His playmaking ability was key for the side. 7

Sensational Seuteni

13 UJ Seuteni: He backed up his semi-final performance, having another blinder in the final. Defensively he was astute, but his ability to break through the Leinster defence was unmatched. He scored the second try to narrow Leinster‘s lead before the break and regularly threatened the defensive line. 9

12 Jonathan Danty: A game filled with highs and lows for the barging centre. He breezed past Garry Ringrose and evaded Robbie Henshaw to score the all-important try for La Rochelle that led to their comeback. Continued to have a fine match from there but gave Leinster a chance to win the final when his poor tackle earned him a yellow card. 7

11 Raymond Rhule: It was a rather quiet attacking game for the La Rochelle backs as Leinster did their utmost to keep them out of the game. Rhule did contest well in the air but was caught out of position for Dan Sheehan’s second try. 5

Heroic Hastoy

10 Antoine Hastoy: An awe-inspiring performance from the fly-half who dragged his side back into the match with stellar game management. He picked his moments to influence the final and assisted two tries. He also slotted all his shots at goal and made all his tackles. 9

9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow: The scrum-half put his side in hot water when he was sin-binned, but he recovered brilliantly to make amends. He produced some glorious passes throughout to put La Rochelle on the front foot and unlock the Leinster defence. He also came up with a crucial turnover in the match’s latter stages and was dynamite on defence. 7

Captain Alldritt

8 Gregory Alldritt: Man of the match as he led his side to back-to-back titles. As always, it was a relentless game from the abrasive number eight. He came up with two turnovers, made his tackles and was one of the few players who regularly gained metres with his carries. 9

7 Levani Botia: A combative outing from the experienced Fijian who was involved with just about everything during his 70-minute shift. He is another who Leinster seemingly made a point of targeting, but Botia still managed to stamp his mark on the game. He made his tackles, won two turnovers and thundered into the Leinster defence with ball in hand. 7

6 Paul Boudehent: A workmanlike outing from the blindside flanker who was one of the leading tacklers and came close to scoring with his footballing skills in the first half. He did not get as much attacking ball as he would have liked, but a strong game in the end. 7

Powerhouse tight five

5 Will Skelton: The Wallaby lock was a marked man throughout the match as Leinster tried to limit his impact. However, the powerhouse lock rose to the challenge with yet another standout performance against the Irish side. 8

4 Romain Sazy: A dynamic performance from the 36-year-old warrior in his final European fixture. He played his part in the furious breakdown battle, tirelessly chased the La Rochelle kicks, and had some success in doing so. A solid shift overall from the veteran second-rower. 6

3 Uini Atonio: Seemingly had the upper hand over Andrew Porter in the scrums, and one could argue that he didn’t get just reward for his dominance. Regardless, he did not take a backwards step in anything he did. Always drew in more than one defender with ball in hand and was a tank at the front of the driving maul. 7

2 Pierre Bourgarit: The hooker had a decent game outside of his gaffe of holding Josh van der Flier too long to give Leinster a penalty when his side was steaming. He found his jumper with all of his lineout throws and was busy around the park before being taken off in the final 15 minutes. 6

Bench boost

1 Reda Wardi: The French international had another great game in the set-pieces, applying the pressure on Tadhg Furlong. He was solid outside of that work although he was a bit late to one or two of his rucks but was sound defensively. 6

Replacements: The bench proved to be the difference, with the replacement props keeping the pressure in the scrums while Thomas Lavault and Ultan Dillane kept the pace up at the breakdown. The match-winning score also came from the bench through Georges Henri Colombe as they claimed back-to-back titles. 8

READ MORE: Champions Cup: La Rochelle fight back from 17 points down to beat Leinster and defend title