Stade Rochelais had to fight until the end to win. The essential is preserved with this third consecutive success. But more will quickly have to be done.
But what would have happened if the La Rochelle management had not had the clever idea of putting Will Skelton back into play five minutes from the final whistle, while the visitors were preparing to launch a maul that looked like a ball match at five meters? The body of the Australian colossus finally intervened between the ball and the goal to allow his team to secure four points which were worth so much more: “We stressed a little bit, recognized Rémi Tales, once the fear had passed. It was a real test for the guys at that time, against the best team in the championship on carries. They responded. Fortunately, because if we had suffered a second defeat at home, it would have been hard to get the momentum going again.”
A month after the notable misstep against Vannes, the Maritimes once again came close to being penalized in front of their home crowd after having made the perfect start on the scoreboard (17-3 at the break). But with La Rochelle, the halves, like the matches, follow one another without looking alike since the start of the season. One of the rare common threads of the period is their ability to win, whatever the context of the meetings: “The objective was to do three out of three before the holidays, replaces Grégory Alldritt. It's done and it's very good, especially since it's a crucial period. We have a smile, there is music in the locker room, everyone is very happy.” His face said something completely different: “I'm being choosy because we have clear ambitions. We want to go very far and we have to be demanding of ourselves.”
“The thing that annoys me…”
The captain knows the law of the very high level too well to ignore this reality: the Stade Rochelais version 2024-2025 is far from ticking all the boxes. Its current areas of progress do not fit on the fingers of one hand. To cite a few, let's say that direct conquest has already shown better returns, line play is far from giving its full measure over time – Teddy Thomas's essay is such a nice overview of what lines back have in them – and the overall concentration experiences too many jumps to hope to find consistency. “The thing that annoys me a little is that when it's a big match, you find a way to mentally get into the game, to be there for eighty minutes while you fall asleep at times on other meetings”notes Ultan Dillane. Jules Favre summarizes the general thought: “There is not an element of doubt but frustration because we know that we can do so much better.”
Grégory Alldritt is convinced: the path taken is the right one for this group which knows itself better than any other, stability requires; and who seeks again and again to reinvent himself without denying himself or going astray. “Little by little, it will come, says number 8, once again the author of a convincing performance. I'm not worried. Frankly, we have gained a lot of confidence in these last matches. Now you have to let go and give 100% for 80 minutes. Already on Thursday, we will have to come back to train with, I hope, a lot of humility and the desire to challenge ourselves in Perpignan.” The Maritimes, without a good number of executives, will seek points as much as certainties for the future.
