Ronan O'Gara: 'I hope they have the courage to go out into town. I expect to get a few insults. It’s important the players feel the fans’ frustration'
ENOUGH: La Rochelle's Irish coach Ronan O'Gara: It’s a big slap in the face.
Australian winger Suliasi Vunivalu discovered life in the Top 14 can be difficult on his first outing for Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle as they faded to a 14-23 loss against bottom-of-the-table Vannes at Stade Marcel Deflandre – their first domestic home defeat in more than a year.
The league convert – who featured in Australia’s 2023 World Cup campaign following his switch to Queensland Reds in 2021 after making his name with Melbourne Storm in the NRL – clearly still has to get to grips with La Rochelle’s game. He was caught out of position more than once and made several handling errors on his debut.
He was far from the only one to have a dismal day in front of another sell-out home crowd. Few La Rochelle players came out of the game in credit. Scrum-half Teddy Iribaren, Jack Nowell, UJ Seuteni, Kane Douglas, Matthias Haddad and Tolu Latu all had days best consigned to the scrap heap.
The defeat, La Rochelle’s third in four Top 14 outings either side of the international break, could not have come at a worse time. O’Gara would have been looking for a strong performance to build on for their Champions Cup bow at English Premiership side Bath on Friday.
“We showed nothing tonight in front of our loyal supporters,” O’Gara said afterwards. “It was a home game before a Champions Cup game and we failed everywhere. And the main architect is me. It’s a big slap in the face.
“We have to ask ourselves how to get out of this bad patch quickly. I have to give the players confidence to attack Bath. I am extremely frustrated, extremely disappointed.”
And he laid down an individual challenge for his players: “I hope they have the courage to go out into town tomorrow. I'm going out and I expect to get a few insults. It’s important that the players feel the fans’ frustration.”
For Vannes, on the other hand, a first Top 14 win on the road was a perfect response to last weekend’s defeat-from-the-jaws of victory against Bordeaux, when they gave up a 29-0 lead after half-an-hour to lose 29-37. A little more confidence ahead of their Challenge Cup debut against Georgia’s Black Lion in Tbilisi next Saturday.
If there are positives for the home side at the end of a performance in which next to nothing worked, they were in the forwards. Will Skelton, in his 100th club outing, and Levani Botia, on his long-awaited return from injury both played well in a miserable cause. As did Reda Wardi, Uini Atonio, and hooker Quentin Lespiaucq, who scored both their tries.
But there’s evidently plenty of work to do in the shortened timeframe before the trip to southwest England.
There’s a lot for Racing manager Stuart Lancaster to chew on, too, ahead of next week’s Champions Cup opener at Creteil against Harlequins – La Defense Arena is again out of action due to a combination of pop concerts and fight nights.
He could only watch in increasing frustration as his side lost 17-21 against a makeshift Toulouse squad, as Ugo Mola rested several players for the start of their Champions Cup defence at home to Ulster.
Jeremy Davidson’s Castres, who host Munster at Stade Pierre Fabre on December 13, were well beaten on the road, losing 54-10 at a resurgent Clermont. Christophe Urios’s side are at Leinster in a fortnight.
Lyon slipped to a fifth defeat in a row at Pau – who ended their own losing run at four matches with a 29-15 win at Stade du Hameau.
Bordeaux’s 9-6 win over Montpellier is worth remembering for two reasons. The first is the four points it gives the home side, as they keep pace with leaders Toulouse. The second came after the final whistle, when scrum-half Matthieu Jalibert confirmed that – after a long period of speculation – he had signed a contract extension through to 2028.
Toulon picked up their first win at Perpignan since 2019. Dany Priso scored their only try in a hard-fought 13-22 affair.
Bayonne host Stade Francais on Sunday, in the final Top 14 match before the Champions and Challenge Cup break. The Parisians, hovering just above the relegation places, revived their season with a six-try 40-24 win over Racing 92 last weekend.
Few visiting sides win at Stade Jean Dauger – but a strong performance could make Laurent Labit and Paul Gustard reconsider their Champions Cup options.
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