Ronan O'Gara and La Rochelle have suffered a second Champions Cup loss in two games, after losing a 21-20 humdinger away to the Stormers.
La Rochelle lead until the 80th minute and were up as much as 9-20, before Mannie Libbok nailed a hugely difficult conversion in the final play after a try from Andre-Hugo Venter.
La Rochelle Suffer Champions Cup Mishap In South Africa
La Rochelle had their chances to kill the game off, with Antoine Hastoy missing a 60th minute penalty and a 72nd minute drop-goal to put his side up by nine.
ROG's side were then sure they had won it with a late try, but despite the conversion being taken, the referee disallowed the score for a head-on-head clash in the build-up, for which Joel Sclavi received a yellow card.
READ HERE: La Rochelle Called Out For Cynical Performance In Leinster Loss
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A dramatic final few minutes for DHL Stormers and La Rochelle! 🫣
La Rochelle have their third try disallowed and are down to 14 after this collision in the build up.#InvestecChampionsCup #STOLAR pic.twitter.com/k8e5Hr6zKF
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) December 16, 2023
Manie Libbok WITH THE LAST KICK OF THE GAME 🥶@THESTORMERS down the reigning champs at the death 😱#InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/a73TjpBmeP
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 16, 2023
The loss leaves La Rochelle in a precarious position in Pool 4, with two relatively tough games ahead of them.
Despite the fact that four out of the six teams qualify from each pool, Leicester at home and Sale Sharks away are by no means gimmes.
While Sale are accepting defeat today by sending a second string team to play Leinster at the RDS, their big guns will likely be back for the visit of La Rochelle.
Coupled with their difficult start to the Top 14 season, the pressure mounts on Ronan O'Gara.
SEE ALSO: 'The Signing Of Kitshoff Has Maybe Added Pressure': Ferris On Ulster's Poor Scrum
