Ken Owens hailed Leigh Halfpenny as the world’s deadliest goal-kicker after the Scarlets moved one step from a European Champions Cup Final.

Halfpenny kicked 19 points at a raucous and vibrant Parc Y Scarlets on Friday night as the region eventually over-powered La Rochelle 29-17 in a gritty quarter-final display.

Tries from Rhys Patchell and Scott Williams helped see the Scarlets into the last four for the first time since 2007 as the French club crumbled under pressure in the final quarter.

Halfpenny had already landed five penalties before he converted both tries – a return to the kind of accuracy that makes him the leading exponent of his art, anywhere the game is played, according to his captain.

“His kicking ability is the best in the world,” said Owens.

“We knew if we put them under pressure we were going to get penalties and had the right man to bang them over.”

Owens has been part of Wales’ Six Nations triumphs and a British and Irish Lions drawn series but admitted this was a special victory.

“It was the biggest game and greatest moment of my club career so far,” added the hooker, who was involved in the team’s last campaign that went as deep into the tournament.

“I was involved in the 2007 side and it has taken 11 years to get back to that stage.

“It has been a barren 11 years. In west Wales you are judged on Europe and this side have proved we can do it in this competition.

“The atmosphere was fantastic and to have just shy of 16,000 was amazing.”

The match was the Scarlets’ first European Cup quarter-final for 11 years and the first anywhere on Welsh soil for nine years.

It was La Rochelle’s first knockout tie in their history and though they had plenty of chances on the Scarlets line, Wayne Pivac’s men demonstrated their grit and nous to keep the Top 14 side from scoring – and without giving up a yellow card until the final 10 minutes.

Scarlets will now either face defending champions Saracens at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry or Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in the semi-finals, depending on the result of their semi-final clash on Sunday.

The Scarlets fielded 11 Wales internationals in their starting line-up under the captaincy of Scotland skipper John Barclay, but La Rochelle were without injured back-row forward Victor Vito and France international centre Geoffrey Doumayrou.

La Rochelle were immediately under pressure as the Scarlets looked to keep ball in hand, and they fell behind after five minutes when Halfpenny kicked a penalty following a high tackle by Sazy on Owens.

But the visitors responded impressively, sending juggernaut prop Uini Atonio through on a powerful charge before possession was kicked wide and sparked a touchdown scramble behind Scarlets’ line.

And after lengthy deliberations between referee Luke Pearce and television match official David Grashoff, a try was awarded to Sazy, with Bales adding a touchline conversion in testing gusting conditions.

It was a definite alarm call for the Scarlets, but Halfpenny restored their advantage by kicking two further penalties after wing Paul Asquith departed injured. Asquith was replaced by flanker Josh Macleod, with Wales international openside James Davies moving to the wing.

Davies, an outstanding sevens player who helped Great Britain win an Olympic silver medal at Rio 2016, looked unfazed by his positional switch, and the Scarlets extended their advantage through another Halfpenny penalty nine minutes before half-time.

La Rochelle, though, finished the half strongly, and Bales made it 12-10 at the interval through an angled penalty, setting up an intriguing second 40 minutes.

Scarlets’ Wales wing Steff Evans was forced off just five minutes after the restart when he was accidentally elbowed in the head while trying to make a tackle – Dan Jones replaced him – and another Halfpenny penalty hoisted his team five points clear.

La Rochelle’s heavyweight pack, led impressively by replacement flanker Kevin Gourdon, began to sense dominance, keeping Scarlets pinned inside their own 22.

But the home side gained a crucial turnover just a metre from their own line, and cleared the danger just when it looked as though La Rochelle might breach their defence for a second time.

Not only did the Scarlets survive though, they stormed upfield and prised open La Rochelle’s defence through centre Hadleigh Parkes’ initial break, before Jones’ long pass sent an unmarked Patchell surging over, with Halfpenny’s conversion leaving the French team facing a mountain to climb.

The Scarlets saw replacement forward Will Boyde sin-binned 11 minutes from time, but it made no difference to the overall picture as Williams confirmed a semi-final spot by touching down five minutes from the end.