La Rochelle prepare to face Munster in a crisis of their own making

La Rochelle are amid their worst run in 15 years. They had little choice but to put all their chips on this weekend's Champions Cup clash with Munster.

La Rochelle's Paul Boudehent during his side's Champions Cup pool stage defeat to Leinster. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Form, the sporting cliche insists, is temporary, but temporary can sometimes feel a lot like forever. Just ask Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle, as they limp into their win-or-bust Champions Cup round-of-16 home tie against Munster in the midst of their worst run since 2010.

Their current winless streak stretches back to the turn of the year. The two-time Champions Cup winners last celebrated victory on Saturday, January 4, 2025 – if you can celebrate limping to a take-the-points 22-19 win over a Toulouse squad so inexperienced it could be a children’s pictorial dictionary representation of the adjective ‘callow’.