Furious Ronan O'Gara asks supporters to 'forgive' his La Rochelle side after crushing loss to Bayonne
FURIOUS: La Rochelle Head Coach Ronan O'Gara was furious after his side's loss to Bayonne. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
A furious Ronan O’Gara pleaded for fans’ forgiveness after La Rochelle crashed back to Top 14 reality in northern Spain, losing 37-7 to Bayonne following three wins on the bounce.
“My first thought goes to the La Rochelle supporters,” he said. “They were there, 80 minutes before the match, 3,000 strong. How can loyal fans expect something like that?
“Fortunately for us, there's another match next week [against Bordeaux]. We need our fans to create a good atmosphere at Deflandre, if they can forgive us.”
The Basque side had Manu Tuilagi in their Top 14 starting line-up for the first time, following his recovery from a broken hand. The ex-England centre was, perhaps, fortunate not to spend at least some time on the sidelines, after a borderline tackle on Gregory Alldritt.
The France backrow was incensed after referee Luc Ramos decided no sanction was necessary after the incident. TV replays appeared to show head-on-head contact, but the official ruled first contact was on the shoulder.
Relocating to the Reale Arena has not been a happy experience for Bayonne in recent seasons – but they were 20-0 up at the time, courtesy of tries from Aurelien Callandret and Facundo Bosch in the first 10 minutes.
Sireli Maqala ran in Bayonne’s third a few minutes later, as the ‘home’ side raced into a 25-0 halftime lead. Camille Lopez scored their fourth 10 minutes into the second half, and a penalty try after the hooter completed the rout, after Aleksandre Kuntelia had prevented La Rochelle going scoreless six minutes from time.
“If you accept a performance like that … you open the door to finding excuses for everything,” O’Gara fumed afterwards. “It was a good week and we were really motivated. A pitch like that, a surface like that, weather like that, but playing like that?” Saturday was another day for Bordeaux attack coach Noel McNamara to bask in the vicarious glow of his monstrously talented backline, as they recorded their fifth win in six. Winger Enzo Reybier scored twice on his first start. He was joined in the double club by fullback Romain Buros and fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, as the hosts ran in 10 tries in a 66-12 victory and take their try tally to 33 already this season.
But there was concern for Nicolas Depoortere, who left the pitch on a stretcher following Apisai Naqalevu’s dangerous tackle – for which the visitors’ centre was sent off.
Concern for Toulouse and France elsewhere, too, as Romain Ntamack suffered a potentially serious leg injury five minutes from half-time – talk was of a partially ruptured Achilles – in the 48-14 bonus-point win over Clermont at Stade Ernest Wallon.
It tempered Antoine Dupont’s return five minutes into the second period, but the roar from the crowd was still impressively loud as he came on for Naoto Saito. His first try three minutes later raised the decibel level higher – and his 13-minute hat-trick prompted the loudest cheer of the night.
A late maul try for Jannick Tarrit put a flattering veneer on Racing 92’s otherwise eminently forgettable 22-6 victory over Toulon in their final outing at their temporary Creteil home, a match that included the first scoreless opening period in the Top 14 since 2021.
Stuart Lancaster’s side are at Bayonne next weekend, but return to their usual La Defense Arena surroundings against Perpignan on October 26.
Emilien Gailleton’s fifth career double – the 21-year-old now has 23 Top 14 tries in 53 matches – was enough for Pau to maintain their winning home record, as they beat Jeremy Davidson’s Castres 33-26. But the hosts’ troublesome second-half blues nearly came back to haunt them, as they let slip a 22-0 first-half lead.
Billy and Mako Vunipola lined up on opposite sides for the first time in 13 years as Montpellier hosted promoted Vannes in a battle of the early season strugglers. The home side needed Leo Coly to nail a 74th minute penalty to confirm a pressure-relieving 26-24 win.
The sixth Top 14 weekend winds up at Stade Gerland on Sunday, as Lyon host Stade Francais – with scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud and fly-half Leo Berdeu among those looking to keep their names uppermost in Fabien Galthie’s mind for France’s internationals in November, especially with the concern over Ntamack.
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