Having come through against Montpellier, the Rochelais restarted the first against the Stade français this Saturday, during the 9th day.
No worries for La Rochelle. With four tries, including one for Jegou, and the offensive bonus, the Rochelais easily disposed of the Stade français (35-18) this Saturday, at home, during the ninth day of the Top 14.
Between the 10th and 14th attack of the championship, we did not expect to see a plethora of tests, and the first half of this clash between the last two semi-finalists of the Top 14 did not have any good surprises in store for us .
By emphasizing the occupation, Rochelais and Parisians offered Marcel Deflandre's audience long and exciting sequences of winning ground, often lost by La Rochelle. During the first period, the Caravelle club certainly played against the wind but above all suffered from its indiscipline (5 penalties conceded in their camp in the first period). Louis Carbonel didn't ask for that much and showed his reliability against the poles to put his team in front at the break.
La Rochelle woke up
Fortunately for the Maritimes, Teddy Thomas took advantage of one of La Rochelle's rare incursions into the opposing 22 to flatten into a corner after a succession of passes in a small perimeter between Leyds, Jegou and Dulin. Returning from the locker room, La Rochelle got back to basics and for the first time managed to get ahead on the scoreboard with a try from Latu at the conclusion of a well-structured maul (43').
And by settling for the minimum, Stade Français was punished. After the 50th minute of play, the Rochelais wanted to hold the ball more and it quickly paid off. At the hour mark after several charges from the La Rochelle forwards, it was the returning player, Oscar Jegou, who stretched out to grab the ball on one end of the goal line and score his team's third try. An achievement synonymous with an offensive bonus, totally unexpected given the nature of the match.
Stunned by this third try, Stade Français finished the match without showing an ounce of rebellion and conceded a fourth and final try, concluded powerfully by Will Skelton in the winger position.
The Parisians therefore once again leave empty-handed from a trip (0 points away this season) and remain in a worrying 13th place. With this improved victory, La Rochelle moved up to 3rd place in the championship, just two points behind the Bordeaux leader.
