Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle condemn Christophe Urios’s Clermont to second successive defeat

"The first home game is always tricky,” home coach Romain Carmignani told journalists afterwards.

Sat, 13 Sep, 2025 - 22:13

James Harrington

In their first home outing of the season, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle condemned Christophe Urios’s Clermont to a second defeat in a row, pulling away in the closing minutes of a mostly forgettable match to claim a 34-16 win at a refurbished Stade Marcel Deflandre.

"The first home game is always tricky,” home coach Romain Carmignani told journalists afterwards.

“We stayed united. But it was sluggish. There are a lot of things to review, with and without the ball. We’ll have two days to analyse it well.” “[Clermont’s] indiscipline unlocked the match in our favour,” the Rochelais’ Paul Boudehent told Canal Plus pitchside moments after the final whistle. He wasn’t wrong.

Clermont’s Rob Simmons, meanwhile, is the answer to the possible future pub quiz question ‘Who received the first-ever orange card – French rugby’s version of the 20-minute red – in the Top 14?’, after he clattered a shoulder into the head of La Rochelle’s Gregory Alldritt.

The colour was moot on the day, as referee Ludovic Cayre brandished the card 12 minutes from time, so no replacement could come on. But Simmons will be summoned before the LNR’s disciplinary beaks and faces a suspension.

Clermont – who maybe deserved better, who certainly deserved better as far as Urios was concerned – finished the match with just 13 on the pitch as Étienne Fourcade was sin-binned four minutes from time for collapsing a maul.

The home side made the most of the extra space late in the game, scoring two late tries through new signings Davit Niniashvili, on his La Rochelle debut, and Nolann Le Garrec to take what had been a close and frustrating game well out of reach of the visitors.

Le Garrec accepted it had been far from a perfect performance in front of 18,000 fans at new-look Deflandre. “We know there's still a lot of work to do. It was a close match, a bit tense, for our first game.

“In this league, as soon as you lose a game, there’s pressure at home. It’s hard to draw conclusions at the start of the season; we had a bit more time than Toulouse and Bordeaux to prepare, and we know we have a tough first block. Today, every point we take counts.”

Led by their sky-high potential young stars, notably Theo Attissogbe and Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Pau doubled down on their surprise win at Castres last weekend with a bonus-point 34-10 home win over a disappointing and injury-hit Stade Francais.

A spectacular Gaël Dréan try and an assured drop goal from Melvyn Jaminet settled mess of a match at Stade Mayol, as Toulon beat Castres 16-12 in Saturday’s primetime match.

Jiuta Wainiqolo danced down the touchline to run in another long-distance highlight-reel try – this time on his first outing for new club Lyon – as they beat a spirited Montauban 18-25 at Stade Sapiac.

A Joris Segonds penalty four minutes from time was just enough for Bayonne to hold on to their home ground ‘fortress’ status after an unbeaten run last season, as they beat Montpellier 26-23 at Stade Jean Dauger.

Toulouse weren’t at their best on their Top 14 return to Ernest Wallon after an absence of 104 days – Ugo Mola was far from satisfied – but they were still too good for visitors Perpignan, touching down four times in a 31-13 bonus-point win.

Racing’s 24-year-old fly-half Ugo Seunes is set to start his first Top 14 match when they meet Bordeaux at La Defense Arena on Sunday evening. Joey Carbery – who played five minutes in the Champions Cup winners’ victory over La Rochelle last weekend – also wears 10 for the first time this season, with Matthieu Jalibert rested for the trip to the Paris suburbs.