It was a classic for the ages between two giants of the competition, but ultimately it was the men from the Limerick that emerged as victors.

La Rochelle started the match like a house on fire.

The clearance kick by Munster didn’t find touch as Dillyn Leyds gathered the ball.

La Rochelle immediately put the ball wide into space as Oscar Jegou found Teddy Thomas on the wing.

He got his pass away to All Black Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who went over for the opening score.

Moments later, the replay showed that Thomas had a foot in touch, and the try was subsequently scratched from the score sheet as Munster earned the line-out inside their own 22 metre area.

La Rochelle earned a penalty for hands in the ruck outside Munster’s 22-metre area in the 10th minute.

Andrew Smith was yellow-carded for the breakdown infringement as it was deemed to be cynical after a line break.

The hosts opted for the line-out and Gregory Alldritt found space and got his pass away to UJ Seuteni.

Seuteni got the ball away to Levani Botia who opened the scoring for La Rochelle in the 11th minute. Ihaia West converted the score.

La Rochelle’s attack was something to behold, but they couldn’t finish the opportunities they created on numerous occasions during the opening quarter after their first try.

Another breakdown penalty against Calvin Nash for not rolling away went the way of La Rochelle, but moments later play was called to a halt as the TMO was consulted to look at potential foul play.

Flyhalf Ihaia West was yellow-carded for making direct head contact with centre Sean O’Brien in the 22nd minute.

A clearance kick by Dillyn Leyds fielded by Thaakhir Abraham’s saw the fleet-footed fullback slice La Rochelle’s defensive line open and found Craig Casey on his inside who went under the posts for Munster’s first try. Jack Crowley slotted the conversion.

Momentum swung in Munster’s favourite as hooker Diarmuid Barron won a penalty and Crowley found touch five metres from La Rochelle’s line.

Munster squandered the golden opportunity as La Rochelle contested the line-out, and Munster knocked it on under pressure.

The visitors didn’t stop their onslaught as they worked themselves within five metres of La Rochelle’s line but knocked possession on again.

La Rochelle earned a penalty with seconds to go before the break as Tadgh Beirne was caught offside at the breakdown.

Ihaia West set the line-out inside Munster’s 22 metre area and the hosts launched their attack. They earned another penalty for not rolling away and opted for the shot at goal.

West stepped up for the three points as the teams headed to the sheds for half-time.

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The second half started with a breakdown penalty immediately going to Munster thanks to Calvin Nash.

Jack Crowley levelled matters in the 41st minute.

La Rochelle almost struck back moments later as they got their free-flowing game going again, but a strong tackle by Calvin Nash on Oscar Jegou centimetres from the line saved the day for his side.

Munster, however, knocked the ball on after the line-out and gifted La Rochelle a five-metre attacking scrum.

The hosts attacked off the scrum as Munster scrambled bravely on defence when it seemed as if Teddy Thomas had a free run-in, but Munster held the La Rochelle up over the line to come away unharmed.

Munster No.8 Gavin Coombes charged Tawera Kerr-Barlow’s clearance kick down in the 48th minute and kept great composure to regather the ball and score the try to go ahead as Crowley converted the score.

Moments later, Munster was at it again as Abrahams found some space on the wing and got his pass inside to Casey, but it went loose in the process.

After a TMO consultation, it was deemed that Dillyn Leyds knocked the ball on deliberately and was sent to the sin-bin in the 50th minute.

Munster went for the five-metre line-out and formed a maul, earning a penalty advantage.

It wasn’t needed as Casey played the ball to the blindside to Andrew Smith who dotted down in the corner. Crowley missed the conversion in the 51st minute.

La Rochelle earned a scrum penalty in the 64th minute on a Munster feed as Ihaia West found a fantastic touch five metres from the Munster line.

Munster conceded a penalty for playing a man in the air at the line-out, and the hosts rolled the dice again.

A clever shift drive by La Rochelle saw Beirne caught offside at the maul as La Rochelle went over the line, but the referee consulted his TMO to make sure of his decision.

After a lengthy consultation, Alex Kendellen was deemed to be the culprit to collapse a strong La Rochelle rolling maul.

A penalty try was awarded to the hosts as Kendellen was sent to the sin-bin for his indiscretion in the 65th minute.

A knock on off a high ball gave Munster a scrum and set Jack Crowley up to nail a sweetly struck drop goal to turn it into an eight-point match with 11 minutes to play.

La Rochelle found space on the outside again, but Dillyn Leyde found himself isolated and Munster won a game-defining breakdown penalty inside their own 22-meter area in the 71st minute.

Tadgh Beirne won another breakdown penalty in the 74th minute just as La Rochelle was looking to build momentum with ball in hand.

A dangerous cleanout by Munster allowed Hastoy to drive his side into Munster’s red zone.

Hastoy nailed a cross-field kick after the rolling maul, and Hoani Bismorin regathered the ball to dot down in the corner before Hastoy slotted an ice cool touchline conversion.

Munster turned the ball over moments after the restart, but then conceded a penalty for sealing the ball off.

With a minute to go, La Rochelle launched a final onslaught inside Munster’s half, but on the stroke of fulltime, Munster earned the breakdown penalty.

The drama, however, wasn’t over yet, as the referee consulted the TMO to check a potential high tackle by Munster.

The referee deemed that the player was falling and that there was no foul play as Jack Crowley tapped the ball and kicked it deep into the stand for an emphatic Round of 16 victory.

Scorers

For La Rochelle:
Tries: Botia, penalty try does not require a conversion, Bosmorin
Cons: West, Hastoy
Pens: West

For Munster:
Tries: Casey, Coombes, Smith
Cons: Crowley 2
Pens: Crowley
DG: Crowley

Yellow cards: Andrew Smith (Munster: Cynical – illegally slowing the ball down after a line break 10′), Ihaia West (La Rochelle: Dangerous tackle – direct head contact 22′), Dillyn Leyds (La Rochelle: Cynical – deliberate knock-on after a line-break 50′), Alex Kendellen (Munster: Cynical- collapsing a maul with momentum 65′)

Teams

La Rochelle: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Teddy Thomas, 12 UJ Seuteni, 11 Hoani Bosmorin, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Grégory Alldritt (captain), 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Levani Botia, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Thomas Lavault, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Reda Wardi.
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq, 17 Alexandre Kaddouri, 18 Aleksandre Kuntelia, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Judicael Cancoriet, 21 Matthias Haddad, 22 Antoine Hastoy, 23 Jules Favre.

Munster: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Sean O’Brien, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Tom Ahern, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Alex Kendellen.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Leal (England), Filippo Russo (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

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