Top 14 round-up: Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle lose out narrowly at Bayonne

France captain Gregory Alldritt marked his birthday with a try but the visitors lost out by a point.

ON THE ROAD: La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara. Pic: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Returning France captain Gregory Alldritt scored for La Rochelle on his 27th birthday, but could not prevent Ronan O’Gara’s side slipping to a tension-fuelled 13-12 defeat at Bayonne’s fortress Jean Dauger.

Even with Six Nations stars Alldritt, Paul Boudehent and Georges-Henri Colombe in the squad, Saturday night’s trip down the Atlantic coast of France was always going to be difficult for O’Gara’s side. Their Basque hosts have not lost a domestic game at their home ground since they returned to the Top 14 at the start of the 2022/23 campaign.

And, for the first hour, the visitors seemed out of it. They were not helped in the first half by Tolu Latu’s lineout struggles. Four of the hooker’s first-half throws were ruled not straight by referee Luc Ramos, quickly snuffing out any chance La Rochelle had of strike moves off set piece.

There was an immediate improvement in lineout accuracy when Quentin Lespiaucq replaced Latu in the 50th minute, while tries from Judicael Cancoriet in the 68th minute and Alldritt’s touchdown in the 73rd pulled La Rochelle back in to a game that they had been well out of for more than an hour. But Bayonne, despite the late panic, held on for the four points.

The result – and the losing bonus – keeps La Rochelle in the play-off places, and also means that just four points separate fourth-place Toulon from Clermont, in ninth.

Earlier, Stuart Lancaster’s Racing 92 consigned Castres to their third home defeat of the season. They did it the hard way, giving up a 14-point first-half lead to trail 21-20 with six minutes left on the clock, while briefly reduced to 12 players. But a Nolan Le Garrec penalty two minutes later, followed by ferocious defending and a missed penalty for the hosts’ Pierre Popelin, was enough for a 23-21 victory.

Mounting fan discontent at Toulon was – temporarily, at least – quietened if not completely silenced by an eight-try-to-one 54-7 win over Montpellier at Stade Mayol that moved the Var side into the play-off zone and plunged the visitors back into the relegation play-off spot.

Former Wasps’ winger Ali Crossdale broke Oyonnax hearts, bursting through numerous tackles to score under the posts as Perpignan came from behind to win 15-14 at Stade Charles Mathon, and all-but send last season’s ProD2 champions back to the second tier – they are now 12 points adrift of 13th with seven rounds of the regular season remaining.

There were eight tries, too, at Stade Marcel Michelin, but divided equally between the two sides as Clermont came from behind to beat Pau 31-28 in a thrilling match that moved the hosts up to 42 points, just three points out of the play-off zone.

Stade Francais opened a four-point lead over Toulouse at the top of the table with a 22-13 win over Lyon at Stade Jean Bouin.

Toulouse, who face Bordeaux at Stade Chaban-Delmas on Sunday, have Antoine Dupont on the bench after his HSBC SVNS adventures in Vancouver and Los Angeles, while Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille, Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou, Thomas Ramos and Francois Cros all return to club action after the Six Nations.

The hosts, too, have thrown their France internationals straight back into domestic action to create a formidable back line, while Matthieu Jalibert returns from the injury that ruled him out of the last two rounds of the international tournament.