Racing 92 13-19 La Rochelle: Ihaia West ends hosts' Top 14 hopes
By Sky Sports Rugby Union
Last Updated: 31/05/19 10:52pm
Racing 92 crashed out of the Top 14 play-offs after going down 19-13 to La Rochelle at Stade Yves du Manoir on Friday night.
The visitors capitalised on the hosts not playing at their U Arena home due to a concert taking place over the weekend as they booked a semi-final date with Toulouse.
Ihaia West's 14 points off the tee separated the two sides, with Arthur Retiere's try cancelled out by Leone Nakarawa. La Rochelle took their chances during a tepid first half in Paris as they led 12-3 at the midway point.
Despite heavy pressure from Racing 92 in the first 10 minutes, West's penalty opened the scoring after Dominic Bird infringed at a ruck.
He kept his composure to increase the gap when Boris Palu was deemed offside, and after another West penalty, Racing's frustrations grew when Henry Chavancy was sent to the sin-bin for a side entry.
Despite exchanging two further penalties before the break, Racing were unable to reduce the deficit as La Rochelle struck with a killer blow 12 minutes into the re-start.
Vincent Rattez played a big role in dragging his side up to the 22, before Geoffrey Doumayrou's cross-field kick found Retiere on the opposite wing for a simple score.
Racing gave themselves hope with 14 minutes remaining when replacement Nakarawa went over the whitewash, but despite five points from the boot of Teddy Iribaren, La Rochelle survived to progress to the last four.
Clermont will face the winners of Lyon against Montpellier, who face off on Saturday at Matmut Stadium de Gerland.
