La Rochelle crush Benetton Treviso with 41-10 triumph

Benetton Treviso 10 - 41 La Rochelle, Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Scorecard

A dominant second half performance witnessed La Rochelle outplaying Benetton Treviso by 10 - 41 in their European Challenge Cup game at Stadio Comunale di Monigo on Saturday.

Vincent Merling's men managed to score just a solitary try in the first half, but after half time they regrouped and added four converted tries to ensure a bonus point victory.

Brock James' penalty in the 10th minute allowed the French team to open their account and soon Uini Atonio scored the opening try as La Rochelle raced to 10-0 in the first quarter.

Benetton Treviso pulled back things through Ian McKinley's penalty but James negated it with another three-pointer at the stroke of half-time at which the Pro 12 team were trailing by 10 points.

Things went ominous for Treviso in the second half as replacement Hikairo Forbes scored a try in the second minute and was immediately followed by Atonio's second try. With James adding two more conversions, La Rochelle looked comfortable at 27-3.

Even though Luke McLean provided some respite for Marius Goosen's men with a 63rd minute try, La Rochelle scored two more converted tries at closing stage which also included a penalty try to complete 41-10 win.

The victory has taken La Rochelle to the top of Pool 1 in the European Challenge Cup.