We continue our look at the 16 teams with an overview of Stade Rochelais...

Path to the Round of 16

La Rochelle were made to work hard for an opening-round 20-13 win over Glasgow Warriors at Stade Marcel Deflandre, 10 points from the boot of fly-half Ihaia West being crucial.

After their trip to Bath Rugby was cancelled due to coronavirus issues, lock Remi Picquette scored a brace of tries in a 39-21 home victory over the Gallagher Premiership side in Round 3.

The TOP 14 outfit then wrapped up a third-place finish in Pool A and a place in the Round of 16 via a 38-30 win at Glasgow in Round 4.

Key moment

In what was their first Heineken Champions Cup game since losing in the final last season, La Rochelle initially struggled to find their rhythm against Glasgow in Round 1.

However, they sprung into life midway through the second half as wing Eneriko Buliruarua finished off a neat move in the corner to put his side back in front.

They did not trail at any stage over the remainder of the pool games as they began to click through the gears.

Key player

No.8 Grégory Alldritt enjoyed a stellar competition last season as he helped La Rochelle reach the final and he has started this campaign in the same vein with three all-action displays.

The EPCR European Player of the Year nominee completed the most offloads (7) of any player during the pool stage, made more carries (45) than any player to have played three games and gained a total of 340m.

Key stats

Only Leinster Rugby’s Jimmy O’Brien (20) scored more points than La Rochelle’s Pierre Popelin (15) in Round 4.

Alldritt beat 13 defenders in three pool stage games; only three players beat more in the same number of games.

Round of 16 opponents

La Rochelle play Union Bordeaux-Bègles in the two-legged Round of 16, travelling to Stade Chaban-Delmas on April 9 before hosting their TOP 14 rivals a week later.

As the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 approaches, we detail each side’s path to the knockout stage, selecting key moments, players and stats.