A BIG PART of Leinster’s season was settling their score with La Rochelle. They beat Ronan O’Gara’s men twice in the Champions Cup and yet still came up empty-handed after losing to Toulouse in the final.
Well, a big part of La Rochelle’s season is settling their score with Toulouse. Ronan O’Gara’s men beat Toulouse 29-8 back in December and drew with them earlier this month but tonight is the real deal.
Defending champions Toulouse face La Rochelle in the Top 14 semi-finals in Bordeaux [KO 7.15pm Irish time, Premier Sports 1], where the second semi between Stade Français and Bordeaux also takes place tomorrow.
These sides met in the final last season, O’Gara’s side nearly claiming La Rochelle’s first-ever Top 14 final only for Toulouse out-half Romain Ntamack to take advantage of a Ulupano Seuteni defensive error and score a stunning late try to grab victory.
That was a fifth consecutive knock-out defeat for La Rochelle against Toulouse, two of them in Top 14 finals and one in the Champions Cup final in 2021. So it’s fair to say that les rouge et noir have caused O’Gara’s men serious pain.
Much like the rivalry between Leinster and La Rochelle, the relationship between Toulouse and La Rochelle has become heated in recent years. After last year’s final, O’Gara angered Toulouse fans by insisting La Rochelle hadn’t been beaten by the better team and he doubled down on that message in recent days.
This has been an up-and-down season for La Rochelle. They struggled for form early in the campaign amid post-World Cup challenges, including the unavailability of talisman Grégory Alldritt as he took an extended break. There were injury issues too and though performances have improved, it hasn’t been their most consistent campaign.
They finished fifth in the Top 14 table, meaning they had to play in last weekend’s barrages phase, essentially two quarter-finals between the sides ranked from third to sixth. The top two teams, Toulouse and Stade Français, went straight into the semis.
O’Gara’s men travelled to Toulon and delivered their best away performance of the season. The La Rochelle boss has asked people to judge them at the end of the campaign so he probably felt this was a sign of his team coming to a boil at the right time.
Les maritimes didn’t have a great platform all the time against Toulon, just eight lineouts and only five visits into the home side’s 22, but they were efficient. Out-half Antoine Hastoy directed play well, big forwards like Will Skelton and Uini Atonio showed their quality, and 21-year-old Oscar Jégou continued his impressive rise.
Back row Jégou was a world champion with the France U20s last year and had been flagged to make a big breakthrough this season. The campaign started well but then he was banned for a month in November after testing positive for cocaine. He apologised for his “youthful error,” served his ban, and has been excellent in recent months.
His try against Toulon last weekend was an unusual one whereby he gathered a bouncing ball after Hastoy hit the post with a penalty, but it demonstrated his desire to make an impact. Tonight, Jégou will look to show his class against the reigning champions.
Toulouse are still on a high from claiming their fifth star in the Champions Cup and having had a nice chance to rest up for a few weeks since the final against Leinster, their frontliners will be hoping to pick up where they left off.
The starting XV is familiar, although Richie Arnold starts in the second row with Emmanuel Meafou out injured, Santiago Chocobares is at outside centre in place of Paul Costes, and Blair Kinghorn moves to the left wing as Thomas Ramos wears the number 15 shirt.
Josh Brennan is among the replacements having fully recovered from the head injury he suffered against Leinster.
On the other side, Jule Favre continues in midfield for La Rochelle with France international Jonathan Danty only on the bench, while second row Rémi Picquette and flanker Judicaël Cancioret are in the starting pack.
In warm, dry conditions, it promises to be an enthralling semi-final. What a weekend it will be in Bordeaux with the locals fighting it out against Stade Français on Saturday night.
UBB have been thrilling to watch this season with stars like Damian Penaud tearing it up in a team that Irish attack coach Noel McNamara must love working with. They beat Stuart Lancaster’s Racing in last weekend’s barrages clash to secure a semi-final against a Paris side that has developed a steelier edge under Laurent Labit.
