Teddy Thomas scored a late try to keep La Rochelle’s Champions Cup title defence alive, defeating a spirited Gloucester 29-26 at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
Gloucester led in the closing stages before Thomas grabbed his second try of the game. Pierre Bourgarit and Tawera Kerr-Barlow also crossed the whitewash, with Antoine Hastoy adding nine points as the defending champions progressed to the quarter-finals.
Tries from Chris Harris, Freddie Clarke and Louis Rees-Zammit kept the less favoured Cherry and Whites in the game, with Billy Twelvetrees kicking eight points.
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Despite leading for a large chunk of the second half, Gloucester were undone after a surge of pressure from the hosts saw Thomas cross in the final minutes to send the French powerhouses into the quarter-finals.
The reigning champions and 2021 finalists put the first points on the board through Hastoy’s sixth-minute penalty, but Gloucester took the lead when a quick string of passes from a lineout allowed Harris to cut through the defence and ground.
Twelvetrees’ conversion and subsequent penalty made it 10-3 to the visitors but La Rochelle quickly responded with two tries in two minutes from France internationals Bourgarit and Thomas, who chased his own kick before scooping the ball up and charging over.
Their lead was short-lived though, as Ollie Thorley’s pace sparked a superb move from Gloucester that Clarke finished with an acrobatic effort to score in the right-hand corner, leaving the teams level at 15-15 at the break.
La Rochelle went back in front six minutes into the second half when Kerr-Barlow sneaked over the line but Gloucester responded once more when Twelvetrees’ cross-field kick was collected by Rees-Zammit who scored in the corner.
Two Twelvetrees penalties then saw the visitors move 26-22 ahead, a lead they enjoyed for a lengthy period, but despite a fantastic defensive effort in the final stages, Thomas found the winning score to break Cherry and White hearts and send La Rochelle into the final eight.
READ MORE: Gloucester lock Freddie Clarke’s JAW DROPPING dive to score in the corner
The article Champions Cup: Teddy Thomas scores late to deny Gloucester a stunning victory over La Rochelle appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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