After season from hell, finally Ronan O'Gara and La Rochelle control their own playoff destiny
Ronan O'Gara: “The most important thing is that we can wake up on Monday and not have lived through a nightmare"
La Rochelle are in ‘control of their own destiny’ manager Ronan O’Gara declared, after Sunday night’s 38-10 thoroughly impressive bonus-point victory over Toulouse moved them to within four points of the Top 14’s play-off places.
“The most important thing is that we can wake up [on Monday] and not have lived through a nightmare,” he told journalists as he refused to look much beyond his side’s next match, on May 30. “Now, we’re preparing to get the job done in Montauban – and with tonight’s unexpected bonus, I think we control our own destiny.
“After Montauban, I hope we’ll know what we need to do to finish in the top six. It’s so exciting to have a clear path ahead of us for the first time. The players deserve their praise – it’s fantastic when they play like that in front of our fans.”
In mid-February, La Rochelle had slipped to 10th in the table, following a run of five losses in a row. They have won seven of eight Top 14 matches since, including the last four, to force their way back into top-six contention with two matches of the regular season left – their trip to already-relegated Montauban, and a home match against top-two chasing Stade Francais.
The Top 14’s fun-loving fixture gods, meanwhile, arranged matters as long ago as last August so that Bordeaux and Clermont, the two sides La Rochelle could overtake with their late-season play-off charge, meet at Stade Chaban Delmas on the final day of the campaign – when all seven Top 14 matches kick off at the same time.
“We never gave up on this season [even] after our difficult period,” O’Gara said. “And what the players decided to do despite the injury list is exceptional.
“We needed a good performance [against Toulouse]. We did the job, but [Monday] morning, we’re focusing on our last two matches.
“I can’t talk about the playoffs yet – that’s a different discussion. This win gives us a bit more confidence. We dared to play against Toulouse, and that’s very positive for what’s to come.”
Three tries in nine second-quarter minutes got the scoreboard moving in the hosts’ favour, after they had dominated territory and possession in the opening exchanges at Stade Marcel Deflandre, but errors of handling and judgement meant they had been unable to break through Toulouse’s defensive wall.
“The first 15 minutes were disastrous,” O’Gara said. “We lacked control, we couldn’t impose our game.
“But what [the players] did after that was very interesting – that’s the version of La Rochelle I like. It was a strange match, but we managed to score during our periods of dominance.
“We struggled at the start of the second half, and it was good to take points with the boot. We had the composure to get back into the game at the end, which is encouraging. It was a very good job done by all 23 players.”
A 5m tap penalty move handed 21-year-old breakout second row Charles Kante Sambe his first-ever senior try in the 22nd minute. It was the spark the home side – and their fans – needed to ignite the match.
Three minutes later, captain Gregory Alldritt, whose pop pass on the turn had given Kante Sambe the space he needed, crashed over from close range after his pack colleagues had blasted their way to the line following another penalty from an ill-disciplined and rotated Toulouse.
The reigning champions’ boss Ugo Mola was forced into a number of late changes to his planned squad for the trip to the Atlantic coast. Antoine Dupont had been expected to start on Sunday night, but stayed home after picking up an injury in training on Friday, Mola revealed afterwards. He refused to comment on the nature of the injury, or how long the French captain might be sidelined, though reports in France suggest a muscle strain.
Meanwhile, loosehead prop David Ainu’u and second row Emmanuel Meafou both withdrew minutes before kick-off, and were replaced in the starting line-up by Rodrigue Neti and Clément Vergé. Cyril Baille and Thibaud Flament moved on to the bench.
Not that personnel changes in the opposition line-up should affect La Rochelle’s gameplan. The home side were more direct than they had been at Racing last week, more confident of their ability to face up to the physical threat Toulouse posed. But they still played their renewed high-pace, free-wheeling rugby. ‘KBA’ has reawakened at Marcel Deflandre. No wonder O’Gara’s happy — he and his staff have been working to bring it back for some time. We’re only just starting to see the results of their efforts.
Two tries became three soon after the half-hour as Oscar Jegou found himself in wide open spaces after Davit Niniashvili’s mazy transition-ball run, Nolan Le Garrec’s pass and Judicael Cancoriet’s break ripped open the visitors’ defence.
Toulouse — kept scoreless for the first time this season in the opening period — finally hit back through Jack Willis six minutes after the restart. But their own errors and determined, obdurate, occasionally scrambling La Rochelle defence meant they would get no closer. This match would become their second-worst defeat of the season, overshadowed in points-difference terms only by their 44-14 loss at Montpellier on September 20.
Two more home side heroes got their names on a La Rochelle scoresheet for the first time — 21-year-old Olympic gold medalist Andy Timo dived over for his first Top 14 touchdown 13 minutes from time to round off a move started in the hosts’ on 22 by a bristling Jules Favre. And, five minutes from the end, Adrien Seguret burst through for the game’s icing score, his first for La Rochelle since signing from Castres earlier in the season.
On Saturday, Leinster’s Champions Cup final opponents Bordeaux flirted with disaster against Perpignan. But they came from behind for the second week in a row to win 37-32 and climb to fifth in the table. Deluxe replacement Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored two, made one and saved one with the clock in the red at the end of the second half.
There is, however, now concern he may not be fit for Saturday’s showpiece in Bilbao, after he was spotted limping out of Stade Chaban Delmas.
Ulster’s Friday night Challenge Cup final opponents Montpellier twice opened sizeable leads at Castres, but ended the match hanging tough for a hard-fought 36-33 win in a 10-try thriller.
Racing 92 ended Toulon’s play-off ambitions with a 43-28 win at La Defense Arena. Earlier, Samuel Ezeala scored a hat-trick and Noah Nene got a double as Stade Francais ran 11-try riot at Montauban, winning 73-25.
Bayonne’s dismal 2026 continued with a 42-35 defeat at Lyon, while Pau maintained their unbeaten run at home with a 24-19 win over Clermont.
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