Much-changed La Rochelle side round out regular season with comeback win 

Ronan O'Gara gave young and fringe players their chance to take on Stade Francais.

BACK AT IT: La Rochelle's Irish coach Ronan O'Gara looks on during the warm-up of the French Top14 rugby union match between La Rochelle and Stade Francais. Picture: XAVIER LEOTY/AFP via Getty Images

A young La Rochelle side signed off the regular Top 14 season with a comeback 14-10 win over Stade Francais in front of another full house at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

Head coach Ronan O’Gara took advantage of his side’s already-won direct pass to the play-off semi-finals in a fortnight to rest his Champions Cup heroes on masse for bigger matches still to come, and fielded - as he had against Montpellier prior to their trip to Dublin - a near-unrecognisable 23.

O’Gara’s La Rochelle - sporting two stars on their shirts for the first time - will play the winner of next Sunday’s barrage-round match between Lyon and Bordeaux, in the second Top 14 semi-final in San Sebastian, northern Spain, on June 10.

Stade Francais’ Gonzalo Quesada, too, was without the services of Sekou Macalou, James Hall and Julien Delbouis, who were in the infirmary and racing against time to be fit for the play-offs.

Two weeks ago, O’Gara’s young guns and fringe players came up short in a thrilling, 10-try 42-31 encounter in Montpellier. This time, they edged a high-intensity potboiler.

Hugo Reus, the 19-year-old fly-half, demonstrated nerve and game smarts way beyond his three-start experience to land two conversions and thread a perfect kick through for the departing Harry Glynn to score the decisive try five minutes from time, and just 12 minutes after Jules Favre had demonstrated his footballing skills to kickstart the hosts’ comeback.

The defeat meant already qualified Stade Francais slipped to fourth in the table, confirming home advantage in the play-offs against near-rivals Racing 92.

Like Stade, Racing were already assured of a play-off place to temper the disappointment of their 35-25 final-day defeat at Clermont. But their failure to pick up a bonus point after being 17-5 up on 30 minutes meant they lost home advantage next weekend, finishing fifth.

Backroom issues have plagued Xavier Gabajosa’s Lyon in recent weeks, with players approaching club president Yann Roubert to voice their concerns about his management style.

Despite these off-field problems, the players put on an exhibition for their fans, running in seven tries to beat Bayonne 53-19, and emphatically end the Basque side’s hopes of a remarkable promotion-to-play-offs campaign - something no side has managed since Racing 92 in 2009.

But Bayonne’s impressive return to the French top flight will not go unrewarded. Eighth place means they qualify for next season's Champions Cup.

Results elsewhere meant Lyon’s victory propelled them from sixth to third in the sound of a final whistle, meaning they get home advantage in next week’s play-off match. But next week’s opponents Bordeaux - who finished in the sixth and final play-off spot after their 35-19 defeat at Toulouse - comfortably won 23-9 the last time the two sides met, at Stade Chaban Delmas last month.

Leaders Toulouse introduced the world to their hi-vis away kit for next season in their final home match of the season - a 54-10 romp against already-relegated Brive, who will be replaced in the Top 14 by newly crowned ProD2 champions Oyonnax.

Toulouse will play the winners of Stade Francais-Racing 92 in the first semi-final in San Sebastian on June 9.

At the other end of the table, Perpignan face a second survival play-off in as many seasons after losing 26-16 at Castres. In truth, the game was closer than the 10-point difference suggests - Antoine Zeghdar’s 79th-minute try put clear water between the two sides in a scrappy, niggly affair.

Perpignan will play losing ProD2 finalists Grenoble at Stade des Alpes next weekend for the remaining Top 14 place open for next season.

Beating Castres would have made no difference for the Catalans, as 12th-placed Pau, the only side they could overtake, beat Montpellier 35-10 - with Emilien Gailleton, another 19-year-old wonderkid, touching down for the 14th time this season to top the league’s try-scoring stats.