Lions fade after the break as La Rochelle pull away in Champions Cup
Back level at 14–14, the Lions went on to lose 31–14 at La Rochelle. The South Africans failed to score after the break in this opening round of European action.
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The Lions had erased their first deficit. They could not answer the next one. The South African franchise went down 31–14 at La Rochelle on Saturday, 17 October, in the opening round of the Champions Cup. Still within reach at the break, at 19–14, the visitors failed to score a point in the second half.
The game was played against a backdrop of mourning, the day after the death of their lock Hyron Andrews. A minute's silence preceded kick-off at Marcel-Deflandre. On the pitch, the Lions opened the scoring early, before suffering a La Rochelle surge in the final stretch of the match.
Lions draw level, La Rochelle retake the lead
Henco van Wyk scored the first South African try. Chris Smith converted it, giving the visitors a seven-point lead. La Rochelle came back through Tevita Ofa, then took control with Oscar Jegou, while the Lions were without Siba Mahashe, who had been shown a yellow card. Antoine Hastoy's two conversions made it 14–7 to the French side.
The Lions nevertheless levelled the scores. After the yellow card shown to Pierre Bourgarit, Morne Brandon crossed the line, and Smith added the two points of the conversion: 14–14. That try kept the South Africans in the game despite the two tries already conceded.
The next turning point came just before half-time. A kick pass from Hastoy found Davit Niniashvili, who scored La Rochelle's third try. Unconverted, it left the Lions five points behind, the value of a try without a conversion. The score remained open, but La Rochelle went into the changing room in front.
La Rochelle pull clear, Lions stuck on 14 points
The second half did not change the scoreboard immediately. It took until around the hour mark for Tolu Latu to finish off a push by the La Rochelle forwards. That fourth try stretched the gap to ten points, at 24–14. The Lions now needed more than one converted try to get back in front.
A South African try was then disallowed after a video review for a forward pass. The Lions therefore did not reduce the deficit. Late on, Avakuki Niusalelekitoga scored the hosts' fifth try, converted by Hastoy to make the final score 31–14.
In all, the Lions' two tries and two conversions account for their fourteen points. La Rochelle's five tries and Hastoy's three conversions make thirty-one. The final margin of seventeen points was built after the South African fightback to level: since 14–14, the visitors conceded seventeen points without adding any.