Stade Rochelais supporters must ask themselves a whole bunch of questions. This Saturday January 18, in Italy, Ronan O’Gara’s men lost to Benetton Treviso (32-25). This unexpected defeat continues to cast doubt on the abilities of this squad to repeat the exploits that forged its myth. The end of a golden age?
TOP 14. End of career at just 32 years old for a major member of Stade Rochelais’ European titles
On paper, however, the season is far from bad. In the Champions Cup, the Maritimes qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, where they are sure to host. On the national scene, they are in the lead and are in sixth place. But then, is there really a problem in La Rochelle?
The doubts lie elsewhere than in the results. These players seem out of shape and the overall dynamic of the team has changed dramatically. This season, the Stade Rochelais is no longer imperial on the events which built its contemporary legend : his solidity at home and his attention for the Champions Cup.
At the end of November, they conceded a defeat at home against RC Vannes, promoted and bottom of the league, on their pitch at Marcel-Deflandre (14-23). In recent days, the Rochelais stadium lost at home against Leinster far from its usual standards (14-16). They then lost against Treviso who, even if this team has impressed in recent seasons in the URC, is not supposed to be of the caliber to beat a squad that recently doubled champion of the competition.
-Recently, Ronan O’Gara admitted that his speech no longer went as well as before. After the narrow victory against a C team from Stade Toulousain, two weeks ago, he said this according to Rugbyrama: “I have to change my management a little and we have to change the spirit a little and I hope that it will result in something more positive.” For the moment, the new mayonnaise is having trouble taking.
However, Stade Rochelais has not yet delivered everything it knows how to do, the workforce of the Aunisian capital has a lot of resources. Among them are international windows. Indeed, the Maritimes have often taken advantage of international breaks to come back reinvigorated. This was particularly the case after the autumn tour where, as soon as all the executives had returned, La Rochelle had shown a good face during the first two days of the Champions Cup, before falling back into its failings in the Top 14.
Then, if Stade Rochelais does not seem to perform well in the regular season, he can also wake up during the final stages. Last year, this was observed in South Africa, during the victory against the Stormers in the Champions Cup. In the Top 14, the Maritimes did it again by surprising Toulon in Mayol (29-34) in the play-off. They then held their own against Stade Toulousain (39-23), before cracking in the last minutes, in the semi-final. So even if Stade Rochelais seems feverish, its opponents should be wary, because it may be closer to the injured beast than to the dying leader…
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