O'Gara turns it around as La Rochelle seal unlikely play-off spot
STILL STANDING: Ronan O'Gara is kicking every ball as La Rochelle come from behind to win their final Top14 reghular season game against Stade Francais and book a play off berth at the Marcel-Deflandre Stadium in La Rochelle. Pic: Xavier Leoty, AFP via Getty Images
Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle will face Stade Francais for the second time in eight days next Sunday, after beating the Paris side 27-22 at Stade Marcel Deflandre on a dramatic final night of the regular Top 14 season to complete a remarkable late-season turnaround and qualify for the post-season race to the Brennus.
La Rochelle were largely written off as play-off contenders in February after dropping out of the top six in November, and limping through a five-match losing streak in January.
But a 31-26 win at Castres on February 28 kickstarted a run of seven wins in eight Top 14 matches – eight in 10 in all competitions – to give them a shot at the play-offs heading into the 26th and final round of the marathon French campaign.
They just had to beat Paul Gustard’s hard-nosed Stade Francais, the only side with a better Top 14 run-in record, courtesy of three additional bonus points, and – following Racing 92’s 41-13 shock win at Clermont six days’ earlier – hope that results elsewhere went their way.
“I’m old enough to understand the golden rule, which is to stay in the fight, even if you think you can’t,” a delighted O’Gara said after Saturday night’s qualifying win.
“Well done to the players! I had to convince [Stade Rochelais’ general manager] Pierre Venayre that we were going to do it, and I don’t think he really believed,” he smiled.
“It’s fantastic – we’re here, that was the goal at the start of the season. [Later], nobody’s going to ask how we got here, but we’re here. We have a match next Sunday, we’re excited because it’s a big one. We’re thrilled to have this privilege.” Nolann Le Garrec’s 11th-minute touchdown – his eighth in six matches, and the first of his 17 points on the night – set the scoreboard moving for the Maritimes.
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.
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 with touching down all-team maul try two minutes from time to take them beyond reach.
Louis Fourssans-Bourdette’s 80th-minute penalty gave the visitors 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 20, where they will face the winners of Stade Francais - La Rochelle.
Second row Judicael Cancoriet paid tribute to his team-mates throughout a difficult and injury-ravaged season. “We’ve talked a lot about the injury list, we’ve had a lot of problems, but we’ve also had leaders who have remained strong, who have weathered the storm, just like the rest of the team.
“These same leaders are driving us forward at the end of the season. They’ve changed the dynamic of the group.” The players’ delight at qualifying, however, would be shortlived, he said, as focus turned to Sunday’s play-off match at Stade Jean Bouin.
“You shouldn’t hide your emotions; it’s important to live in the moment, whether it’s celebrating or realising we pulled off a little comeback. We were pretty much the only ones crazy enough to believe in it,” he said.
But, he warned: “We’re not taking [play-off-qualification] as a victory – it was the bare minimum. And I think we all want to go as far as possible. It’s just one more step.
“We’re not going to relax. We have too many competitive players. I’m thinking of Nolann [Le Garrec], Nini [Davit Niniashvili], Semi [Lagivala] – these aren’t guys who just want to finish in the top six. I hope we can keep this momentum going.” Victory alone was not going to be enough for La Rochelle. 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.
They will travel to Pau next Saturday for their barrage-round match. The winners of that match will face regular season league leaders Toulouse in Marseille on June 19.
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 an 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 season-wrecking 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.
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