A MASTERCLASS from former All Blacks scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow helped La Rochelle dump Sale Sharks out of Champions Cup contention.
Steve Diamond's side were brave in defeat but are now mathematically out of contention for the quarterfinals with one round of Pool action remaining.
Tries from Tevita Railevu, Kerr-Barlow, Geoffrey Doumayrou and Gregory Alldritt along with ten points from the boot of Ihaia West were enough to secure a bonus point victory for the hosts. Jean- Luc du Preez and Curtis Langdon scored Sale's tries with AJ MacGinty and James Williams kicking 13 points between them.
“We played very well in the first-half but we made two errors and La Rochelle scored two tries from them,” said Diamond.
“La Rochelle didn't have to work very hard in the first-half. During the second-half they overpowered us but I'm not too disappointed.
“I thought it was a fairly good performance given that seven of our matchday 23 were 18-years of age.
“I run the club that way and I have to have my kids coming through. To get experience in such a hostile environment is fantastic.” Du Preez opened the scoring for Sale as he powered his way over from short-range but the hosts hit back with two tries in three minutes after Kevin Gourdon was yellow carded for an intentional knockon.
Kerr-Barlow sparked the French outfit into life with Railevu crossing at the left-hand corner before the former All Blacks scrum-half intercepted Will Cliff 's pass to run in from 40 metres out.
La Rochelle started the second-half strongly and, after a number of powerful carries, Kerr-Barlow raced clear before drawing his man to put Doumayrou over.
Sale were struggling to cope with the pace and quality of Kerr-Barlow with former England wing Chris Ashton's frustration getting the better of him when he tackled the scrumhalf without the ball after he had broken clear. Referee Mike Adamson gave Ashton a yellow card, punished by three points from West's boot.
Things went from bad to worse for Sale when replacement prop Valery Morozov was shown a red card for driving his shoulder with force into the head of Lopeti Timani. But Timani was shown a yellow card after a neck roll on Morozov.
Alldritt claimed the try bonus point as he crossed in the left-hand corner after a lovely pass from Brock James. But Sale refused to throw in the towel and a Langdon try from shortrange cut the home side's lead to seven points.
TEAMS
LA ROCHELLE: Sinzelle 7; Railevu 8, Doumayrou 8 (James 68, 6), Botia 7, Retiere 7 (Murimurivalu 67, 6); West, Kerr-Barlow 9 (Berjon 64, 6); Wardi 7 (Corbel 65, 6), Bougarit 7 (Lebrun 51, 7), Puafisi 7 (Atonio 51, 7), Lauvault 7, Leroux 7 (Timani 61, 5), Gourdon 7, Liebenberg 7, Alldritt 8 (Kieft 75, 4).
SALE SHARKS: James 6; Roebuck 6, James 6, Williams 6, Yarde 6; MacGinty 6 (Ashton 33, 5) (Carpenter 75, 4), Cliff 5 (Warr 75, 4); Harrison 6 (Morozov 64, 1), Webber 7 (Langdon 64, 6), Cooper-Wolley 7 (Ford 79, 2), Postlethwaite 6, Phillips 7 (Neild 64, 5), J du Preez 7, Curry 7, D du Preez 7 (Dugdale 72, 5).
REFEREE: Mike Adamson (Sco)
ATTENDANCE: 15,432
Star man
Tawera Kerr-Barlow – La Rochelle
