T14 round-up: Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle defeat high-flying Pau to end home losing run

HOME COMFORTS: Stade Rochelais' Head Coach Ronan O'Gara ahead of a match. Pic: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland.

Three weeks after they snapped a five-match losing streak with a streetwise win at Castres, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle gave their home fans something to cheer about as they beat high-flying Pau 20-6 to end a three-match losing run at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

Hooker Quentin Lespiauq barged over in the 36th minute for the only try of a defence-heavy first half following a quickly taken penalty, after Antoine Hastoy and Axel Desperes had traded earlier penalties.

As it had been in the first half, so it was in the second. The returning Joe Simmonds pulled Pau to within four points, before Jack Nowell burst through to score the second under the posts with 10 minutes remaining to take La Rochelle out of sight.

Hastoy converted both tries, and pulled strings in attack alongside halfback partner Nolann Le Garrec, back in action following a freak training ground injury while with the national side during the Six Nations.

The lead-up to Hastoy’s 100th match for La Rochelle — against his old club — had been a difficult one. It had been reported in France that his star had fallen so far that O’Gara was willing to let him leave long before his contract was up.

But the manager this week insisted that the fly-half would see out the remaining three years of his contract, and that suggestions he was ready to let Hastoy leave were nothing more than a threat.

Earlier, Montpellier had breached Clermont’s long-standing Marcel Michelin fortress in the opening match of the weekend, winning 17-20 courtesy of a 78th-minute try from fullback Tom Banks, who has been on the pitch for every minute of every Top 14 match this season.

Bayonne picked up their first win under newly promoted head coach Ged Fraser — and their first in 2026 — with Sireli Maqala bagging two tries in their 26-60 win over bottom-of-the-table Montauban at Stade Sapiac.

Leo Barre scored the bonus point try as Stade Francais beat Pierre Mignoni’s Toulon 27-46 at Stade Mayol.

Castres’ hopes of finishing in the top six took a blow when they lost to La Rochelle at Stade Pierre Fabre a fortnight ago, leaving them needing to pick up points on the road. Despite a breakaway start at Racing, where they scored two converted tries in the first eight minutes, they finished on the wrong end of a thumping 52-21 scoreline.

Perpignan’s unbeaten run at home in 2026 screeched to a halt, as they lost a seven-try thriller at Stade Aime Giral against Lyon 28-32.

Bordeaux host Toulouse in Sunday’s primetime match, with France’s newly crowned fly-half king Matthieu Jalibert facing off against the player he usurped, returning Romain Ntamack, at Stade Atlantique.

As well as Jalibert, the hosts have included Six Nations’ final round heroes Temo Matiu and Yoram Moefana. Meanwhile, hooker Peato Mauvaka starts for the first time in nearly a year for the visitors, who have rested Antoine Dupont and Thomas Ramos.