Toulon focus clearly on Munster as they are hammered by Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle

Will Skelton made his long-awaited comeback for La Rochelle with an appearance off the bench

La Rochelle's French scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec scored a brace of tries against Toulon. Pic: XAVIER LEOTY / AFP via Getty Images

Hooker Tolu Latu and scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec both scored twice as Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle warmed up a full-house on a frozen evening at Marcel Deflandre with a 10-try 66-0 win over a youthful Toulon squad that barely threw a punch all evening.

The one-way mismatch feared since the squads were announced on Saturday evening quickly became reality, as — a week before O’Gara’s side face Leinster in Dublin in the Champions Cup — they benefited from what was effectively an extended training ground run-out against Pierre Mignoni’s academy-heavy Toulon Hypotheticals, featuring 10 academy players, including three making their senior debuts.