Before facing the English from Exeter in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup in a Matmut Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux, which was fully booked for the occasion (42,000 seats), the excitement was mounting on the La Rochelle side. But Ronan O’Gara’s men do not usually want to talk before approaching the final stages which they know well, they who won the European Cup last season ahead of Leinster.
“You can’t get used to such scenarios. It’s so fantastic and different each time… We did the job to get this far,” explained Romain Sazy at a press conference. In very good shape on both counts (Champions Cup and Top 14), Uini Atonio’s teammates are logically favorites but are wary of an English team with a mixed record this year.
The La Rochelle group has found its balance. After a difficult start to the season in the Top 14, the Yellow and Blacks have twice beaten the English from Northampton and twice beaten the Irish from Ulster in the Champions Cup. Then on the evening of a difficult to digest defeat in the league against Lyon (16-20), something clicked. “If we don’t change now, we will be eliminated, it would be catastrophic. If we don’t have the will to change, to make more sacrifices, we will stay the same, with more defeats and that’s very serious, “said Ronan O’Gara after the meeting.
A muscular speech, but which had the gift of waking up the players. Since February 18, the Rochelais have not lost a meeting (8 consecutive successes). Castres, Brive, Pau, UBB, Bayonne or even Clermont have fallen. On the continental scene, Grégory Alldritt’s teammates were initially scared against Gloucester in the round of 16. But finally managed to beat the “Cherry and White” thanks to a late try from Teddy Thomas (29-26). In the quarter-finals, the steamroller from La Rochelle beat the other English Saracens (24-10).
Moreover, against the Sarries, Ronan O’Gara’s men signed their 14th victory in a row in the competition, a record. Note that the last defeat of the Rochelais in the Champions Cup dates back to the final lost against Stade Toulousain (17-22) on May 22, 2021.
La Rochelle knows it. In the final stages, the dynamics no longer exist (almost) and the teams are different. “Everything is reset. It’s always good to have a nice dynamic, of course. We absolutely want to keep winning. But there is a big team in front. You have to go there with a lot of humility, ”confided the indestructible Romain Sazy before the meeting. Especially since Exeter is not a successful team in the Maritimes… During the four confrontations between the two clubs, the Chiefs won four times.
But then what is this English team really worth? She probably comes at the end of a cycle. If the Cowan-Dickie case is not yet settled, Joe Simmonds (Pau), Sam Simmonds and Harry Williams (Montpellier) or even Jack Nowell (La Rochelle precisely) will leave the club at the end of the season. But this year, Rob Baxter’s men – European and English champions in 2020 against Racing 92 – have lost their luster. Only sixth in the Premiership, Henry Slade’s teammates also narrowly escaped elimination in the round of 16 against Montpellier (33-33, victory after extra time for scoring 5 tries against 4 for the MHR) before crushing a sad Stormers team in the quarter-finals (42-17). Vigilance nonetheless.