Ronan O'Gara: Taking short, shallow breaths at business end of the season
HEADS-UP RUGBY: La Rochelle's French lock Remi Picquette passes the ball during the European Rugby Champions Cup match against Ulster at The Marcel Deflandre Stadium in January. Pic: Xavier Leoty/AFP via Getty Images
Where the air is thin, you take your short, shallow breaths where you can get them. After a mountainous 21 weekends of Top 14, we go into Week 22 on Saturday balancing the necessity to finish in the top two with the semi-final of the European Champions Cup in a fortnight.
There are five rounds of regular season remaining in France but there are no priorities. La Rochelle has never won the Bouclier, but its history has been rewritten by winning the Heineken Champions Cup in Marseille last May.
