O'Gara and La Rochelle limp towards Munster as Clermont inflict seventh defeat in eight

Top 14 Round-up: No confidence boost in sight as Corkman's out-of-sorts side are humbled again en route to a 33-19 loss

THINKING TIME: Ronan O'Gara's team are in wretched form. Pic: PA Wire

There was no confidence-boosting victory for Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle to count on as they head into next Saturday’s Champions Cup round-of-16 match against Munster at Stade Marcel Deflandre on the back of a 33-19 loss at Clermont – their seventh defeat in their last eight outings.

Both sides were desperately seeking a morale-raising win. Like O’Gara’s Rochelais, Christophe Urios’s Clermontois had not won a Top 14 match since January 4. Unlike the Rochelais, they at least had a Champions Cup pool-phase win – against Bristol – to look back on since the turn of the year.