Top 14: Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle clinch play-off spot with defeat of Stade Francais

Champions Cup winners Bordeaux lost at home to Clermont to miss out on the top six.

Sat, 06 Jun, 2026 - 22:08

James Harrington

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle completed a remarkable end-of-season turnaround to qualify for the Top 14 play-offs – beating Stade Francais 27-22 at Stade Marcel Deflandre to set up a post-season trip to Paris to face the same side next Sunday.

On a dramatic final night of the regular season, La Rochelle climbed into the sixth and final play-off place and denied Stade Francais a top-two finish, while Champions Cup winners Bordeaux lost at home to Clermont to miss out on the top six.

Nolann Le Garrec’s 11th-minute touchdown – his eighth in six matches – set the scoreboard moving for the Maritimes. The scrum-half scored 17 points on the night. But, the Rochelais found themselves down in the match and out of the play-offs with half an hour left, after Joe Marchant and Jeremy Ward scored for Stade Francais in the first half, and the referee awarded the visitors a penalty try 10 minutes after the break.

But with 10 minutes left on the clock Semi Lagivala crossed and Le Garrec converted to send La Rochelle back into the lead, and Quentin Lespiauq was credited the an all-team maul try two minutes from time to take them beyond reach.

Louis Fourssans-Bourdette’s 80th-minute penalty gave Stade a losing bonus, but it was in vain, as Montpellier’s 28-25 win at Lyon meant the Challenge Cup winners claimed second place, and a bye to the semi-finals in Marseille on June 19 and 20.

Last Sunday’s bonus point win for Racing 92 at Clermont meant that La Rochelle’s future was not wholly in their hands. They needed one or both of Racing 92 and Bordeaux to lose at home to Toulouse and Clermont respectively.

Patrice Collazo’s Racing did not oblige, winning a back-and-forth game against the reigning Top 14 champions 31-20 to claim fifth place. They will travel to Pau next Saturday for a barrage-round match.

But Bordeaux did. Harry Plummer’s 78th-minute drop goal and a crucial 80th-minute jackal by young centre Leon Darricarrere as Bordeaux charged forward in desperate search of a late winner decided a thrilling match 34-31 in favour of Clermont.

Pau made certain of fourth place to qualify for the post-season play-offs for the first time with what was – if it’s possible – a more-difficult-than-expected 11-try 71-31 win over Montauban at Stade du Hameau.

The last act for 38-year-old second-row Leone Nakarawa for Castres was to convert the 80th-minute try scored by 19-year-old scrum-half Colin Dupuy as the Tarn side ended the season with something approaching a smile, ending a six-match losing run with a 38-21 win over Toulon at Stade Pierre Fabre.

Bayonne turned on the style to win for the first time at Stade Jean Dauger in 2026. Max Spring scored two of their eight tries in a 52-7 victory over 13th-placed Perpignan – whose focus was firmly on next Sunday’s trip to Stade Maurice David to face losing ProD2 finalists Provence in the promotion-relegation play-off.