The northern province had more than enough to put daylight between themselves and the visitors, ultimately scoring six tries, brothers Zac and Bryn Ward both crossing the line, making light of the conditions to drive their way towards the last four.<\/p>\n
Ulster will now face Benetton or Exeter Chiefs in the semi-finals, and could yet end up at home as they bid to make it all the way to the final in Bilbao.<\/p>\n
It took just four minutes for Ulster to get rolling, Zac Ward powering through from a lineout move to score near the posts, the province opting to give the ball air instead of mauling. Nathan Doak converted into appalling conditions and the hosts were up and running.<\/p>\n
That became 10-0 on nine minutes when Doak nailed a penalty as the weather worsened in Belfast.<\/p>\n
![\"Stuart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTSPK3S4TF34JVX7B2P7523ZMQ.jpg\")
Stuart McCloskey holds the ball for Nathan Doak to kick a conversion for Ulster. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n
The visitors needed something with the wind behind them. On 22 minutes it arrived, Diego Jurd landing a long-range penalty with considerable assistance.<\/p>\n
Two minutes later, Ulster struck back and got the put-in after Jurd was tackled behind his own line by the fired-up James Hume. A big carry off the scrum from Juarno Augustus clattered bodies, giving Ulster the momentum they needed, leading to Tom O\u2019Toole driving over.<\/p>\n
Doak added the extras but then Ulster hit a potential speed bump when they were reduced to 14 after Zac Ward was yellow-carded for a 29th-minute tip tackle. They admirably resisted and even managed to add seven points before Ward\u2019s return.<\/p>\n
Werner Kok then obliterated Jurd, leading to a penalty. After going to the corner and winning another penalty, Ulster tapped and Cormac Izuchukwu got over.<\/p>\n
Doak once more converted for 24-3 and yet the half ended with La Rochelle getting something for their efforts when Judicael Cancoriet battled over in the 41st minute. Jurd landed the conversion for 24-10 at the break.<\/p>\n
![\"Ulster's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ZITEAW3DTNNHWYLAYDVIFL47DY.jpg\")
Ulster’s Iain Henderson wins a line-out. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n
But it was Ulster who grabbed the first points of the new half. Jack Murphy\u2019s cross-kick being picked up by Zac Ward for his second try. Doak missed from the touchline, but Ulster now led 29-10.<\/p>\n
The visitors reminded Ulster they weren\u2019t quite done, claiming their second try when replacement Tolu Latu broke away, Jurd converting on 51 minutes.<\/p>\n
Ulster quickly responded as Zac Ward carried hard to supply brother Bryn, who careered his way down the left flank all the way to the line.<\/p>\n
In the closing minutes came try number six, when James McCormick worked his way over from a lineout maul, Jake Flannery kicking a great conversion to take the hosts over the 40-point mark.<\/p>\n
La Rochelle, whose bench had a notable impact on a game which had already slipped away, scored the last points of the evening when Joel Sclavi snatched a try, Jurd finishing it all off with the conversion.<\/p>\n
SCORING SEQUENCE \u2013 4 MINS: Z Ward try, Doak con 7-0; 9: Doak pen 10-0; 22: Jurd pen 10-3; 24: O\u2019Toole try, Doak con 17-3; 36: Izuchukwu try, Doak con 24-3; 41: Cancoriet try, Jurd con 24-10; Half-time 24-10; 46: Z Ward try 29-10; 51: Latu try, Jurd con 29-17; 53: B Ward try 34-17; 76: McCormick try, Flannery con 41-17; 82: Sclavi try, Jurd con 41-24<\/p>\n
ULSTER: J Stockdale; W Kok, J Hume, S McCloskey, Z Ward; J Murphy, N Doak; A Bell, T Stewart, T O\u2019Toole; I Henderson (capt), C Izuchukwu; S McCann, J Augustus, N Timoney. Replacements: S Crean for O\u2019Toole, S Wilson for Augustus (both 58 mins), J McCormick for Murphy (71), J Flannery for Doak (73).<\/p>\n
Yellow card: Z Ward (28 mins).<\/p>\n
LA ROCHELLE: I West; U Pacome, UJ Seuteni, A Seguret, H Bosmorin; D Jude, T Berjon; J Penverne, G Garault, K Sorin; T Lavault, A Kuntelia; E Richer, L Andjisseramatchi, K Fraindt. Replacements: C Luaki for Garault, T Latu for Sorin, J Sclavi for Kuntelia (all 47 mins), N Couillaud for Cancoriet (66).<\/p>\n
REFEREE: H Davidson (SCO).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Challenge Cup quarter-final: Ulster 41 La Rochelle 24 On yet another night of appalling weather in Belfast, Ulster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42553,32729,61,60,117866,32727,112,31398],"class_list":{"0":"post-392848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ronan-ogara","9":"tag-challenge-cup","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-la-rochelle-rugby","13":"tag-richie-murphy","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ulster-rugby"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}