No worries for La Rochelle. With four tries, including one for Jegou, and the offensive bonus, the Rochelais easily disposed of Stade français (35-18). this Saturday, at home, during the ninth day of the Top 14.

Between the league’s 10th and 14th-ranked forwards, we didn’t expect to see a plethora of tries, and the first half of this clash between the last two Top 14 semi-finalists didn’t provide any pleasant surprises.

With the emphasis on occupation, the Rochelais and Parisians treated the Marcel Deflandre crowd to some long and exciting win-or-go-home sequences, often lost by La Rochelle. In the first half, the club à la Caravelle may have been playing into the wind, but they suffered above all from indiscipline (5 penalties conceded in their own half in the first period). Louis Carbonel did not need to do so much, however, and made the most of his reliability in front of the posts to put his side ahead at the break.

La Rochelle wakes up

Fortunately for the Maritimes, Teddy Thomas took advantage of one of La Rochelle’s rare forays into the opposition 22 to score a try in the corner after a succession of passes in a small area between Leyds, Jegou and Dulin. After the break, La Rochelle got back to basics and for the first time managed to go ahead on the scoreboard when Latu scored a try at the end of a well-structured maul (43′).

And by settling for the minimum, Stade Français were punished. After the 50th minute, the Rochelais wanted to hold on to the ball more, and it quickly paid off. On the hour mark, after several charges from the Rochelais forwards, it was the returning Oscar Jegou who stretched out to snatch the ball from the end of the line and score his side’s third try. An achievement synonymous with an offensive bonus, totally unexpected given the shape 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, a powerful finish from Will Skelton in the wing position. As a result, the Parisians once again came away empty-handed (0 points away from home this season) and remain in a worrying 13th place. With this bonus win, La Rochelle move up to 3rd place in the championship, just two points behind leaders Bordeaux.