At the Velodrome stadium,
The idyll continues between La Rochelle and the Vélodrome stadium, to the point of having the right to a declaration of love from Ronan O’Gara for Marseille after his team’s victory against RC Toulon (8-23 ), Saturday evening, for the 24th day of the Top 14: “It’s engraved in our hearts, it’s Marseille baby. We’ve been here since Thursday, we jogged all over town, we ate in a good Italian, we drank beers. Le Millénium and Marseille Bébé are places that will forever be etched in my mind, and those of my family and my children. I love the heat and the sun, although as an Irishman I always have to stay indoors. It’s a great city, I love those with a great history and this is the case. Also with this stadium”.
If the Stade Rochelais coach got so excited when talking about Marseille, it is obviously more in memory of the European Cup victory last year against Leinster at the Stade Vélodrome, than that against the RCT . But it sounds like a nice nod to the past since it allows the Rochelais to offer themselves the chance to prepare as well as possible for this season, again against Leinster, but at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin this time.
“We have 15 days to be fresh for this final”
Because with this “good performance full of serenity”, according to O’Gara, Stade Rochelais alone takes the lead in the Top 14, while waiting for Toulouse – Bordeaux Bègles this Sunday, and above all ten points ahead of Stade Français, 3rd. What to ensure, or almost, a direct qualification for the semi-finals. Even if “it’s not done yet, but you will say it is”, joked the hooker Pierre Bourgarit.
We have seen that this new European final, the second in two years, was already in the minds of Rochelaises. Like these many changes in the second half, such as the exit of Seuteni for a shoulder injury.
“We have a final in two weeks so I quickly told him to go out to recover because I need him,” even admitted O’Gara at a press conference. “Next week there will be a lot of turnover, even if the coach doesn’t tell you like that. So inevitably it will allow the organisms to rest. I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think there’s a big break. We have 15 days to be fresh for this final”, admitted Pierre Bourgarit straight away a few minutes after his coach.
General repetition
And even if the level of this match between the RCT and La Rochelle was not really up to the event, playing in a stadium like the Vélodrome, also sounded like a rehearsal, before going to the boiling Aviva Stadium . “My players are hungry, they like to play. Last week at the Matmut Atlantique in front of 41,000 people, this Saturday evening 42,000 today. Many of my players are no longer young but they are stimulated to play in this kind of occasion, “said Ronan O’Gara.
At the end of the season, the Stade Rochelais confirms above all that it is becoming a stronghold of French rugby, thanks to the desire of the Irish manager “to be challengers in all competitions”.