Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Sunday November 3, 2024 at 11:28 a.m.
Oscar Jegou successfully returned to the field on Saturday evening with La Rochelle against Stade Français in the Top 14.
On Saturday evening, La Rochelle confirmed that its Marcel-Deflandre enclosure was truly becoming an impregnable fortress. During the penultimate match of the 9th day of Top 14, Stade Rochelais, 3rd in the standings, inflicted a 6th defeat on Stade Français (35-18) and took the opportunity to come back to within 2 points of the Bordeaux-duo. Bègles/Toulouse (who will play Sunday evening). The Maritimes notably won thanks to 4 tries. The penultimate was scored by Oscar Jegou in the 61st minute. The 3rd international line has indeed made its return to the field, to “its” Deflandre field. Almost 2 months after his return to France and almost 4 months after the outbreak of the “Mendoza” affair in Argentina, the young rugby player happily returned to the pitch in official competition. Holder, Jegou played the entire match. Indicted for “rape with violence in a meeting”, we thought we would not see him again so soon because the La Rochelle club was awaiting a decision to dismiss the case to authorize him to resume competition, but the hearing date continued to loom. been postponed for several weeks, he finally changed his mind.
Leyds: “Oscar is huge. We are very proud of him”
After experiencing hell in South America last summer, Oscar Jegou saw his name chanted by Maritime fans like all those of his partners before the match kicked off. Then he had his match. And had a lovely evening. He signed his first tackle after 5 minutes, obtained a penalty on a scratch, caught 2 touches, distilled the penultimate pass on the first try from Teddy Thomas (32nd) and was entitled to a standing ovation after his try . “It’s huge Oscar. We are very proud of him. He had a great match. He was in tough times, but we were always behind him. He must be proud of his performance,” noted Dyllin Leyds, the captain of La Rochelle.
Jegou’s parents: “Happy and relieved to see him playing again”
Oscar Jegou has not spoken and he will not do so until the case is dismissed. “We are happy and relieved to see him playing again,” his parents reacted to L’Équipe at half-time. It is important that he returns to his profession as a professional rugby player and to competition. We hope this story will soon be behind us. » “Oscar was a little more stressed than usual before the meeting,” said the 3rd line agent, Antoine Ratinaud. He was apprehensive. But he got into his match well. He was diligent and very present. » A great evening for everyone. “It feels good for everyone to see Oscar perform like this. Establishing him was obvious because he is a class player,” confided Ronan O’Gara, the manager of the La Rochelle team.
