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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ronan O'Gara and La Rochelle tighten grip on Top 14 play-off berth
Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle gave themselves every chance of qualifying for the Top 14 play-offs with a bonus-point five-try 38-15 win over struggling Perpignan at Stade Marcel Deflandre. But their fifth victory in a row, ensuring they head into the final round of the regular season in sixth place – came at a price. Captain Gregory Alldritt and fellow backrow Patrick Sobela are early doubts for next weekend's trip to Pau after picking up knee injuries, the former in a clash with international team-mate Posolo Tuilagi. Tawera Kerr-Barlow scored at either end of the first half to record his fifth – and, most likely, final – brace for La Rochelle on what could be his final appearance in front of the Marcel Deflandre stands. Both he and fullback Brice Dulin, who retires at the end of the season, received a standing ovation when they left the pitch together five minutes from time. The Rochelais could claim fourth place, and a home barrage, if they win at Pau next week, and both Bayonne and Castres lose. But the hosts' indiscipline meant Perpignan were able to stay in touch in the first half, thanks to the boot of Tomasso Allan, who slotted four of five penalties before the break, and another almost immediately after the restart. That would be the last time they troubled the scoreboard as La Rochelle kicked on, scoring through Pierre Bourgarit, Thierry Paiva and Dillyn Leyds in the final half hour to settle the game – and just about see the 105-day winless streak earlier this year disappear in the rearview mirror. 'We're a great group of guys,' coach Donnacha Ryan told journalists afterwards, acknowledging the side's dismal run earlier in the season. 'The key for the staff was to stay honest, to always give the guys a clear message, to reinforce their level of quality, too. 'There were a lot of very honest discussions, particularly about the quality of our sessions. We tested ourselves and, fortunately, we were able to turn the page.' Pau could finish level on points with La Rochelle, if they pick up a bonus-point win at home next Saturday. This week, centre Emilien Gailleton scored twice as Sebastien Picqueronies' side all-but condemned Vannes to the ProD2 next season, scoring seven tries to their hosts' four in a 26-52 win at Stade de la Rabine. Those two results were a major relief for Stade Francais, who had earlier collapsed almost quickly enough to form a black hole at Clermont. Paul Gustard's side led 6-17 at halftime, and what would have been a first-ever Top 14 win at Stade Marcel Michelin seemed possible, even plausible. It was 20-20 just after the hour, so they were still very much in the reckoning. And it finished 55-20. For Clermont, the apparently not entirely evergreen Benjamin Urdapilleta – in his final match in front of the home fans before he retires, overtook Brock James to become the leading points-scorer in the Top 14. His 15 points off the tee took him to 2,499, eight ahead of the ex-Clermont and La Rochelle star. Those results mean no positional or league points changes for the bottom three. But the Breton side, in particular, now need an unlikely win at Bordeaux next weekend, and for other results to go their way. Perpignan, four points ahead in 13th, host Toulouse at Stade Aime Giral, while 12th-placed Stade Francais have a precious one-point cushion over the Catalans as they prepare to entertain play-off–chasing Castres. For the first time since they returned to the Top 14 in 2009, Racing 92 – first-ever winners of the Bouclier de Brennus, back in 1892 – will not feature in the post-season play-offs. Their chances were slim at the start of their match against Montpellier at La Defense Arena. Their 25-27 defeat – settled by a 79th-minute Anthony Bouthier penalty – shut the door on any hopes entirely. One-club player Henry Chavancy, in his final home match for Racing, had opened the scoring with a well-taken try in the second minute. But, despite Montpellier captain Billy Vunipola seeing red for a croc-roll just before halftime, the hosts were unable to make their numerical advantage count. Fifth-placed Castres closed the gap on Bayonne, in fourth, to a single point, with a 33-3 bonus-point win over the Basque side at Stade Pierre Fabre. Leaders Toulouse – already certain of a pass to the semi-finals – host Lyon at Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday in a match moved from Saturday night to avoid clashing with the Champions League final in Munich; while third-place Toulon have second place in their sights when they host newly crowned Champions Cup winners Bordeaux – without most of their Cardiff heroes.
Irish Examiner
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle tighten play-off grip with sharp victory over Montpellier
Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle climbed to fifth in the Top 14 with a sharp 47-18 bonus-point win over fellow play-off chasers Montpellier at Stade Marcel Deflandre in the closing match of the Top 14's 24th weekend. Just two places in the top six remain open – and every side down to Lyon, in 11th, is still in the hunt as the regular season winds down – points in the bag are more important than points in potential. This was La Rochelle's first domestic try-scoring bonus since their win over Stade Francais on November 2. After Mael Moustin had given the visitors an early lead with a well-taken try, the Rochelais – with O'Gara serving the second week of his touchline and dressing room suspension up in the stadium gods – dominated the rest of the game. Antoine Hastoy got the home side of the scoreboard moving with a penalty, before wingers Jack Nowell and Dillyn Leyds combined to send the former over the line. Prop Thierry Paiva then crashed over to finish off a fast and furious spell in which both sides turned over the ball in the visitors' 22. And Hastoy completed the first-half scoring with his second on-the-hooter drop goal in as many matches. His first gave La Rochelle their third win in a row at Vannes last Saturday. This one put them 15 points ahead – almost, but not quite out of sight. It wasn't all good news, however, as Uini Atonio did not come out for the second half, but the hosts continued to squeeze Montpellier out of the game. Levani Botia burst through a lineout maul to extend their lead just before the hour; Leyds acrobatically benefited from a Hastoy hack ahead five minutes later. He thought he had a dramatic second 10 minutes from time, racing clear after a determined defensive set from his forwards — but referee Pierre Brousset ruled it out following a lengthy TMO consultation and instead awarded a penalty try to Montpellier. With the last play of the game, however, Brice Dulin finished off a sweeping move to regain the try-scoring bonus. On Saturday, Matthieu Jalibert had the pundits purring with a consummate performance for Champions Cup finalists Bordeaux a week ahead of the showpiece against Northampton in Cardiff. He scored one special try and made two more equally impressive ones as his side came back from 14-0 down against Castres at Stade Chaban Delmas to lead 29-14 at the break. Job done, plaudits assured, he was subbed off shortly after 50 minutes, a bigger job in store next weekend. Castres pulled back to within five points, and were driving towards the line once more when one handling error too many stopped them short, with the score at 34-29. The win was welcome – important, even, given the play-off stakes – but manager Yannick Bru will be happier his charges have no serious injury concerns. Challenge Cup finalists Lyon suffered a setback six days before they meet Bath for the title, giving up an early 17-0 lead to lose 31-30 at Stade Francais. The result, Stade's first win since March 22, moved them out of the bottom two. Perpignan slipped into the relegation play-off spot after their 31-13 loss at Clermont. Meanwhile, bottom side Vannes led 25-12 after half-an-hour at fourth-placed Bayonne. But the hosts roared back in the second period to win 38-32 and guarantee their place in the post-season race for the Brennus. Toulon fell to a third Top 14 defeat in a row, coming out on the wrong end of a 25-21 scoreline at Pau, as their top-two challenge falters. Leaders Toulouse, too, slipped to a surprise loss at home, beaten 37-35 by a determined Racing 92, who are back on the fringes of the play-off hunt, something that seemed an impossibility after Stuart Lancaster was removed from his post earlier this year.
Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Dulin returns to La Rochelle starting line-up, Jailbert leads Bordeaux as they defeat Castres
France international fullback Brice Dulin returns after a month out as Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle look to record their fourth win in a row and ramp up a play-off challenge that looked increasingly unlikely as their 105-day winless run dragged on. Dulin, whose five-year stint at Stade Marcel Deflandre is entering its final weeks as he weighs up retirement or a possible move to relegated Nationale side Nice, starts at fullback against almost equally unlikely top-six rivals Montpellier on Sunday night. O'Gara and his staff have rejigged the front row, with Thierry Paiva and Tolu Latu packing down to the left of Uini Atonio, while Matthias Haddad returns to the backrow for Oscar Jegou, who suffered a potentially season-ending hand injury in training this week. Midweek rumours that Jonathan Danty was being prepped to play a flanker's role proved inaccurate after he was named as one of two backs on the bench. Another end-of-career France international 15, Vannes-bound Anthony Bouthier, keeps his place at 10 for Montpellier, after a thoroughly impressive performance in the 46-27 win over Bordeaux at the GGL last Sunday. Bouthier stepped into the breach after Stuart Hogg – who had played out of position for much of the season – suffered an achilles injury at the end of April that will keep him on the sidelines for several months. France U20 fly-half Hugo Reus, who left La Rochelle for Montpellier in search of playing time in early February, is on the bench. Earlier, Castres' head coach Xavier Sadourny had only praise for Bordeaux's Matthieu Jalibert, who was in magical form as Bordeaux warmed up for next Saturday's Champions Cup final against Northampton with a 34-29 win at Stade Chaban Delmas. The visitors, still hurting from the death of Josaia Raisuqe in a collision at a level crossing, had raced into a 14-0 lead before Jalibert inspired his side to score 29 unanswered points – including a trio of highlight-reel tries – before the end of the first half. Another Bordeaux try six minutes into the second period threatened a walkover win, but the visitors fought back with two tries in the last quarter, and were pushing for an improbable win when the final whistle went. Toulon's top-two challenge is faltering. They slipped to a third defeat on the bounce, a second-half comeback not enough to overturn a 20-point first half deficit as they lost 25-21 at Pau. Just four points separates fourth from 11th after Saturday's matches. There's another surprise contender for the play-offs in the shape of Patrice Collazo's Racing 92, on 51 league points after picking up a surprise 35-37 win against a strangely out-of-sorts Toulouse at Stade Ernest Wallon. But then, there's a definitive nine-point gap to the bottom three. It's survival or bust for the trio at the foot of the table, now. Paul Gustard's Stade Francais climbed out of the relegation spots in dramatic fashion, coming back from 17-0 down at the end of the first quarter against Challenge Cup finalists Lyon to win 31-30 courtesy of a 78th-minute Zack Holmes penalty. Leo Berdeu then fired a drop-goal attempt just wide to give the Parisiens their first win since March, and the merest sliver of breathing space at the bottom of the table. It was another case of so near, so far for Vannes, who led 19-25 at Bayonne at the end of the first half – only to end up on the wrong end of a 10-try 38-32 defeat that keeps them rooted to the bottom of the table. They're four points behind Perpignan, who slipped back into the bottom two after a 31-13 loss at Clermont.
Irish Examiner
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'I was locked in a cage upstairs' - Banned O'Gara savours dramatic drop-goal victory
It seemed near-delusional when 'caged' Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle were struggling in the teeth of a 105-day winless storm – but, after a third victory in a row, they suddenly find themselves in the top six after an ulcer-inducing 30-29 success at Vannes on an day of high emotions in the Top 14. This was the type of match the Rochelais would let slip away earlier this year. In truth, it looked like they were about to do it again as they let an early 12-0 lead slip against a tigerish Breton side determined to fight for Top 14 survival to the final second. Vannes recovered from the twin try strikes of Dillyn Leyds and Paul Boudehent inside eight minutes to lead 16-12 at the turn, courtesy of a touchdown from hooker Theo Beziat and a trio of Maxime Lafage penalties. Lafage landed another penalty triple in the second half, and a ninth try of the season two minutes from time for remarkable 23-year-old loosehead prop Thomas Moukoro, on loan from Racing 92, looked to have settled the result in the Breton side's favour, despite second-half scores from the visitors' Quentin Lespiauq and Jules Favre. But La Rochelle fly-half Antoine Hastoy wound-up a last-ditch drop shot from 40m out as the hooter sounded. There was nothing the home side's players could do but hope he'd underhit it as it sailed towards the posts. He hadn't. O'Gara – who stayed behind in the team bus during the warm-up and watched the match from high in the stands of Stade de la Rabine after being handed a five-week ban by the FFR for an incident in Toulon in January – described Hastoy's kick as 'a great moment of class'. 'We need to look in detail at why we needed a drop-goal when we were 12-0 up,' he told journalists afterwards. 'But what's magnificent, for me, was our character, away against a very good team. 'I was locked in a cage upstairs, but I was able to see how we carried the ball. 'Vannes had a great game plan, they marked us well – and, normally, when a team scores 29 points, you don't beat them. It was a great moment of class from Antoine Hastoy that saved us at the end.' He refused to discuss his suspension with reporters at Stade de la Rabine but indicated the club would appeal against the sanction. It was savagely cruel on Vannes, who had briefly climbed out of the bottom two during the realtime matchday table flux, with their closest relegation rivals Perpignan and Stade Francais locked in an equally tight survival battle at Stade Aime Giral. It was an afternoon of late decisive kicks – and a day of away wins, as La Rochelle, Pau and Toulouse all won on the road. One Parisian error too many cost them what would have been a first win in five, as Tomasso Allan punished them from the tee five minutes from time, pushing the Catalans into a 20-18 lead. Stade's Zack Henry had a later chance to overturn the result, but fired a difficult kick from out wide across the face of the posts. Lyon lost ground in their own late-season play-off push as they came off second best in an eight-try 27-29 encounter at home against Pau. The Challenge Cup finalists recovered from 10-24 down at the end of the first half to lead with the clock in the red – but a 16th penalty gave the visitors' Thibault Daubagna a shot at goal. Like Hastoy, unlike Henry, he nailed the kick. And the result of the match between Racing 92 and Bayonne at La Defense Arena hung on a penalty five minutes after the hooter. The scores were level at 24-24 – courtesy of Xan Mousques' 75th-minute try for the visitors – when Joris Segonds stepped up to take the kick from 40m out to win it for the Basque side. Like Henry, unlike Daubagna and Hastoy, he missed. A rotated Toulouse brushed off an early brain injury for Romain Ntamack to run in eight tries in a 16-50 deconstruction of third-placed pretenders Toulon at the Velodrome in Marseille. The try-scoring bonus guarantees the reigning Top 14 champions an automatic semi-final spot, while the 'home' side are set to lose Baptiste Serin for at least one match of their run-in after he picked up two first-half yellows. Champions Cup finalists Bordeaux are taking a heavily rotated side to Montpellier for Sunday's closing match of a truncated Top 14 weekend as they target a domestic play-off semi-final bye. A minute's applause in memory of Castres Olympique winger Josaia Raisuqe, who died in a collision on a level crossing near the club's training ground on Thursday, preceded all Top 14 and ProD2 matches this weekend. Castres' scheduled match this weekend against Clermont has been postponed to the weekend of the Champions Cup final, on May 24. Instead, Stade Pierre Fabre was the venue of a moving tribute attended by players, family and fans on Saturday morning.
Irish Examiner
26-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
O'Gara's La Rochelle renaissance continues with gritty road win in Bordeaux
Wins, it turns out, are like buses. Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle waited 105 days for one. A second arrived a week afterwards, this one a remarkable, hard-way 21-10 victory over Bordeaux at a sold-out Stade Chaban Delmas on Saturday night. It was a confidence smack of a result to the home side ahead of next weekend's Champions Cup semi-final against Toulouse up the road at the Matmut Atlantique. Especially after events in the Pink City a few hours earlier. In the week, La Rochelle's veteran tighthead Uini Atonio had insisted the squad still harboured top six ambitions. 'There are five matches left,' he told journalists. 'If we win all five, I think we'll qualify.' It seemed far-fetched. But the Rochelais came out like they meant it. An early 100m scare apart – when Dillyn Leyds just beat Damien Penaud to a bouncing ball in the visitors' in-goal area following Yoram Moefana's break from under his own posts – they dominated the early exchanges. Old hand Jack Nowell won a one-on-one with young gun Louis Bielle-Biarrey to score the game's opening try after 14 minutes. He won the upper hand again 10 minutes later, when he beat the Bordeaux flyer to a hack ahead from Cyril Cazeaux – conceding a scrum when a try seemed increasingly likely. That woke Bordeaux from their Champions Cup semi-final daydreams. They spent the rest of the half pounding away at La Rochelle's defence, repeatedly getting close, but never quite touching down. In rapid succession before the break, Reda Wardi was sinbinned, Jonny Gray was held up over the line, and Maxime Lucu lost a photo-finish race with Jules Favre to ground the ball. Crucially, the visitors' line creaked and bent, but held. Bordeaux ramped up the pressure again early in the second half. But then Jefferson Poirot was sinbinned for a neck roll on Will Skelton. Temporary sideline exile was probably safest for him. Two minutes later, replacement backrow Paul Boudehent intercepted a lazy Lucu pass from a ruck to score La Rochelle's second. And Levani Botia came up with the ball from a 5m maul to extend their lead in the 54th minute. Replacement prop Ugo Boniface cut the lead on the hour – after it seemed Nowell had again done just about enough against Bielle-Biarrey. This had strong hints of the direct La Rochelle of old. Suffocating Bordeaux's vaunted attack of space in defence, and ploughing straight up the guts in attack. And though Bordeaux hammered away for the rest of the match, they failed to break through. One win down. Four to go. La Rochelle are seventh, level on points with Clermont in sixth, the last of the play-off places. Suddenly far-fetched doesn't seem to be the correct adjective. Earlier, the Top 14's 'Fan Days' Weekend kicked off at a packed Stadium Toulouse, where teenage scrum-half Simon Daroque scored one of the reigning Top 14 champions' seven tries as they ran through their repertoire en route to a 52-6 rout of a rotated Castres. But they didn't have everything their own way. Blair Kinghorn is a serious doubt for next weekend's European last-four meeting with Bordeaux at Matmut Atlantique after suffering suspected knee ligament damage. Lyon, in sixth at the start of the weekend, could not take advantage of Castres' larger-than-expected defeat, as they came off second-best in a nine-try 39-31 thriller against Clermont at Stade Marcel Michelin. Veteran Ben Urdapilleta – who will retire at the end of the season – scored the decisive try four minutes from time, as the hosts leapfrogged their opponents in the standings. Fourth-placed Bayonne did benefit from Toulouse's earlier win, opening up a five-point gap over fifth-placed Castres courtesy of a 27-22 win over Pau, in a match moved across the Spanish border to Estadio Anoeta. Manu Tuilagi broke his Top 14 try duck in his 18th outing since joining the Basque side last summer, while 21-year-old fly-half Axel Desperes kicked a tricky bonus point–winning penalty after the hooter, moments after missing a similarly difficult shot at goal. Stuart Hogg was helped off the pitch with a suspected achilles injury as Montpellier held on to beat Perpignan 19-13 at the GGL Stadium. A single point now separates Clermont, in sixth, and Montpellier in eighth place. The most important result of the day, though, the one that sent shockwaves through the lower reaches of the table, saw Vannes keep their survival hopes very much alive with a bonus-point 29-19 win – their first try-scoring bonus of the season – over an out-of-sorts Toulon at Stade de la Rabine. Italy international Stephen Varney's double was the difference-maker. Toulon, too, saw Melvyn Jaminet stretchered off the pitch following a collision with one of his own team-mates in the second half. That result leaves Vannes just one point behind 13th-placed Perpignan and Stade Francais in 12th. The Parisians cross the river into Hauts-de-Seine on Sunday to face 11th-placed Racing 92 at La Defense Arena in a match that could well have season-defining possibilities for both sides.
