Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle miss out on Top 14 play-off place

A defeat to Pau on Saturday night means the Corkman's side slip out out of the reckoning.

DRAMA: Ronan O’Gara’s side saw their season end on a final night when all seven games kicked off at the same time. Pic: ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle missed out on a place in the Top 14 play-offs for the first time since 2017 as they lost 32-15 at Pau to slip down to seventh in the table, one point behind Castres.

On a tense final regular season night, in which the lead at Stade du Hameau changed hands more than once, two late tries decided the result in favour of the home side, who claimed the eighth and final Champions Cup place.

O’Gara’s side were the big losers at the play-off race on a final night when all seven games kicked off at the same time.

They were overtaken by Clermont who climbed to fifth with a 23-10 win at Montpellier, while Castres – who had started the night in fifth place – held on to the last play-off place by the skin of their teeth thanks to the result in Pau.

Bayonne will host Clermont in the first barrage-round match on Friday night, while Toulon will entertain Castres in the second on Saturday evening. The winners of the first barrage match will face Toulouse at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium on June 20. The winners of the second match will take on Bordeaux at the same venue 24 hours later.

The Basque side maintained their perfect home record with an 18-10 win over Toulon to claim a first-ever play-off place. It was the visitors’ fourth defeat in five run-in matches.

At the other end of the table, meanwhile, Vannes’ one-season Top 14 adventure ended in a 59-28 loss at Bordeaux. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud and Nicolas Depoortere all scored twice for the new Champions Cup holders to condemn the Bretons to an immediate return to the ProD2.

Vannes' place will be taken next season by Montauban – who return to the French top flight for the first time since 2010, after a surprise 24-19 victory over favourites Grenoble in the ProD2 final at Stade Ernest Wallon.

Grenoble – who have now lost three ProD2 finals in a row will now host Perpignan at Stade des Alpes next weekend. The Catalans beat Top 14 leaders Toulouse 42-35 in a thrilling encounter at Stade Aime Giral – but it was in vain as Stade Francais’ beat Castres 21-10 in a penalty-ridden encounter at Stade Jean Bouin.

Meanwhile, Lyon’s season petered out with a fifth defeat in a row – they lost 34-47 at home against Racing 92 in a match that had little impact on the table.