Stade Rochelais, double reigning European champion, got off to a bad start to its new Champions Cup campaign by losing on Sunday, at Marcel-Deflandre, against the Irish Leinster (9-16). For the second day, the Maritimes will face the South African province of the Stormers on Saturday (2 p.m.). A crucial match for the rest of the competition that the Rochelais take very seriously since they reached Cape Town at the start of the week.
This was explained on Sunday by Irish manager Ronan O’Gara. “We are leaving tomorrow (Monday) at 2 p.m. by bus to Bordeaux then by plane to Paris. Then, we do Paris-Johannesburg and Johannesburg-Cape Town. It’s a bit complicated, but until now, we haven’t used excuses…” It’s a major challenge awaiting La Rochelle since since their inclusion in the Champions Cup last year, the South African teams have never lost on home soil.
After the downpours which fell on La Rochelle on Sunday, the Maritimes will have much nicer weather conditions this weekend on the other side of the globe. “We need to recover well because we are going to play in completely different conditions on Saturday in Cape Town,” confirms O’Gara. It’s interesting for us because in the final phase the conditions are not like today (Sunday). It’s not an excuse, but I think my team likes to play when the ball is dry. And smile: “It will be 25 degrees there, it’s not going to be like today (Sunday), we’ll bring the sunscreen.” No time, however, to sunbathe…
