Ronan O’Gara retains double-playmaker option for La Rochelle’s must win clash with Toulouse

GOOD JOB: La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara congratulates his rookie Russian flanker Kirill Fraindt after victory over Racing 92 at the Paris La Defense Arena. Pic: Geoffroy van der Hasselt, Getty Images.

Rookie fullback Ihaia West has retained La Rochelle’s 15 shirt for back-to-back matches after manager Ronan O’Gara opted to repeat last weekend’s successful double-playmaker option for Sunday night’s must-win match against Toulouse at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

West, who will move from coast to capital in the summer, after signing up to reunite with Tawera Kerr-Barlow at Stade Francais, played with quiet competence on his fourth career start at 15 in the Rochelais’ first-ever win against Racing 92 at La Defense Arena last Sunday.

Elsewhere, Jules Favre replaces Dillyn Leyds, whose season was ended by injury last weekend, Levani Botia comes in for the unfortunate Matthias Haddad-Victor, while Reda Wardi and Joel Sclavi prop Talu Latu in the front row.

Fijian backrow Watisoni Waqanisaravi, meanwhile, is set for his bow in front of the Marcel Deflandre crowd following his arrival at the club from Georgia’s Black Lion in February, and Louis Penverne returns to the 23 for the first time since February 14th.

La Rochelle’s play-off window is closing rapidly. Only Racing’s 43-28 Saturday primetime win over Toulon at La Defense Arena — which ended the visitors’ play-off hopes — prevented Montpellier, Pau and Stade Francais joining Toulouse in the play-off departure lounge.

Anything less than a win over Toulouse on Sunday would close it almost completely.

On Saturday, Leinster’s Champions Cup final opponents Bordeaux climbed one place to fifth in the Top 14 table with a 37-32 win over Perpignan. But made life difficult for themselves for the second weekend in a row, as they allowed the Catalans to steal a first-half march at Stade Chaban Delmas.

A halftime international-standard reshuffle – with Marko Gazzotti, Gaetan Barlot, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana and Louis Bielle-Biarrey coming on for the second 40 – helped them turn around an early deficit to win 37-32. The first of Bielle-Biarrey’s second-half double came less than two minutes after the restart. He also made one try and stole a match-winning ball from under the nose of a flying Jonathan-Lee Joseph with the clock in the red.

Second-placed Montpellier, Ulster’s Friday night Challenge Cup final opponents in Bilbao, won a 10-try thriller 36-33 at Castres. Unlike Bordeaux, they twice let sizeable leads slip and were desperately hanging on as the clock ticked down the final seconds to full-time.

Samuel Ezeala scored a hat-trick and Noah Nene got a double as Stade Francais ran 11-try riot at relegated Montauban, winning 73-25. And Bayonne’s dismal 2026 continued with a 42-35 defeat at Lyon. The Basque side have won just twice in 12 matches since the turn of the year.

Pau survived a late comedy of errors to beat Clermont 24-19 at Stade du Hameau and maintain their perfect record at home. An ill-timed kick to touch gave the visitors a late, late chance for victory with a 5m lineout on the hooter.

But the throw-in wasn’t straight, handing the ball back to the hosts. A reset scrum went as expected, but Dan Robson’s pass for Axel Desperes to clear went straight out over the dead ball line. Despite Clermont players’ objections, the referee ruled it a fair pass and called time. Clermont fan forums may disagree.