The first of this weekend’s European semi-finals will see La Rochelle and the Sale Sharks square off in Challenge Cup action on Saturday the 20th of April.
Saturday’s Challenge Cup semi-final double-header will get underway out in France where La Rochelle and Sale will clash in a Franco-Anglo affair. Both teams have are both at an impasse in their domestic campaigns with the duo tittering on the brink of missing out on the knock-out phases of their respective leagues. And it sure would be nice to have a European final to look forward to should these sides fail to advance in their domestic leagues.
La Rochelle v Sale Sharks
Saturday 20 April
Stade Marcel-Delfrandre
18:30
To Win (80 Mins)
La Rochelle 3/10
Draw 22/1
Sale 5/2
La Rochelle
The French side have on suffered one European defeat this term which came at the hands of the Bristol Bears who beat them 3-13 at the Stade Marcel-Delfrandre. Apart from that blemish, it’s been smooth sailing for the team affectionately known as the Mariners who made it to the semi-finals by hammering their former conquerors, the Bristol Bears, 39-15.
In terms of recent form, La Rochelle managed to end a long domestic losing streak in emphatic style last weekend as they hammered Pau 71-21. If they can replicate that polished attacking display here, then they may well book themselves a European final.
Sale
The English side were slightly less prolific than their French counterparts during the pool phase winning four of their six fixtures while suffering defeats to the Bordeaux Begles at home and Connacht away. They exempted some revenge over Connacht as they beat the Irish Province 20-10 in the quarter-finals.
Like La Rochelle, Sale have endured some patchy form domestically with the Manchester-based club losing three of their last five fixtures. Their most recent loss came last weekend where they went down 39-17 to the Worcester Warriors.
Verdict: La Rochelle 3/10
Both of these sides are very unpredictable which makes this an extremely hard game to tip. I’m going to tread safely here and back the home side on the straight win.
