O'Gara's La Rochelle roar to fourth win of season with Lyon scalp

Top 14 Round-up: A week before the Champions Cup kicks off, five Top 14 points on the road were more than welcome against a lacklustre Lyon side

ROAD WARRIORS: La Rochelle's head coach Ronan O'Gara saw his side make it four wins from six. Pic: Matthieu RONDEL / AFP via Getty Images

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle picked up their fourth victory in six matches so far this season and their second away from home, easing to a comfortable 28-16 bonus-point win over a lacklustre Lyon at Stade Gerland to consolidate their early season place in the Top 14’s top six.

Fly-half Antoine Hastoy and teenager Valentin Bouju – claiming his second win in his two matches as starting scrum-half – both scored as La Rochelle raced into a blistering 14-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes.

Dillyn Leyds added a third shortly before the break, while Jiuta Wainiqolo supplied the only try-scoring response for the hosts as they woke up just before the half-hour And 15 minutes after the resumption, Watisoni Waqanisaravi touched down for the only try of a humdrum second period, as rain made the ball slippery in the second half.

But, a week before the Champions Cup kicks off, five Top 14 points on the road were more than welcome. 

“It was important to put in a good performance first and foremost, before we even thought about winning,” centre Simeli Daunivucu said afterwards.

“We didn’t expect to pick up five points – but we knew we had to give it our all on the pitch, give everything we’ve got and hope to come away with something ahead of the Champions Cup.” Toulon ended a difficult week following the shock resignation of director of rugby Pierre Mignoni on a positive note as they picked up their second win of the season, a 29-15 home victory over Racing 92 – Munster’s Champions Cup opponents at Páirc Uí Chaoimh next Saturday.

Leinster’s opponents in Dublin next weekend, Clermont, lost a nip-tuck encounter at home against back-to-back Champions Cup winners Bordeaux 22-23.

Following a tight first-half at Stade Jean Bouin, Stade Francais eased away from Montpellier to claim a 30-22 victory. But they may have to dip into the transfer market for a medical joker after losing hooker Lucas Peyresblanques to a serious ankle injury.

Perpignan and Vannes both failed to trouble the scoreboard in the first-half of their match at Stade Aime Giral – the Catalans’ attack coach Nicolas Nadau will have questions for his players after they spent 25 minutes of the opening period in the visitors’ 22.

The two sides shared five tries in the second half – Perpignan eventually winning 21-12, to keep the promoted Breton side winless with no wins in their first six matches.

Pau – provisionally top of the table pending the result of Sunday’s match between Toulouse and Bayonne – condemned Castres to their third defeat in a row, and pushed them down to 13th in the table.

But they needed an after-the-hooter 75m special from Olympic gold-medallist Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang to claim a 35-26 result at the end of a tense match that, despite the result, the visitors can take plenty of positives from. Especially after their performance at home against Toulouse last weekend.

After resting a sizeable number of their senior contingent last Saturday, the reigning champions have gone big against Bayonne at Stade Ernest Wallon.

Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack both start at halfback with Tomasso Menoncello and Santiago Chocobares in midfield. Loosehead Cyril Baille – who will be a Bayonne player next season – is also in the run-on line-up, against his future team, while Esteban Capilla, who will head the other way in summer 2027, starts for the Basque side.