Ronan O'Gara: Should a top European club team be beating an international test XV?

When people say Manchester City are better than the English national side, of course they should be. They have a world XI on the pitch and another squadron of talents waiting in the wings. Pep Guardiola’s hand is a lot stronger than Gareth Southgate’s.

YELLOW FEVER: A La Rochelle's supporter eats prior to the French Top 14 match against Bayonne at Marcel-Deflandre stadium last week. Picture: XAVIER LEOTY / AFP)

Scrutinising the LNR website last night, I found myself calculating how far La Rochelle are off top scorers and the meanest defence in the Top 14 with only four rounds of regular season fixtures remaining.

Even with that, data can be misleading. With 579 points scored, we are second behind Racing 92’s 590 points, but their home games are played at the indoor La Defense Arena in Paris. That is not comparing like with like. If a French rugby nerd were to put a label on the core values and principles of each club in the league, La Rochelle would probably be characterised (pigeon-holed?) as a forward-dominated team trying to bludgeon opposition to death. I may disagree. We are a hard-working, tight group that plays for each other, and who possess numerous game plans, depending on what’s presented in front of them.