At the end of the suspense, Aviron Bayonnais held on on home soil at Stade Rochelais. Long impervious to the offensives of the double reigning European champion in this meeting of the 19th day of the Top 14 2023-2024, the locals snatched a precious success by a very small point (13-12), Saturday evening.
Thanks to this new home victory in the championship, Bayonne remains undefeated at Jean-Dauger for more than two years and manages to stay on course with a view to remaining in the elite. For La Rochelle, the frustration is great given a one-sided end to the match. Unfortunately for the visitors, Antoine Hastoy’s decisive penalty ended up on the post.
Jean-Dauger, impregnable lair
Aviron Bayonnais’ opponents in the Top 14 continue to wonder if their invincibility at home will one day end. To find the trace of a defeat of the Basques on their lawn in the championship, you have to go back to January 21, 2022. It was against FC Grenoble, at the time when the club was still a resident of Pro D2. Since then, nothing has resisted in Bayonne.
And it’s not Stade Rochelais that will say the opposite after this evening spent clashing against a formidable defensive organization. Author of only one away victory since the start of the season, La Rochelle was keen to deliver a major blow to Jean-Dauger, but the outcome only offered them a modest defensive bonus point. Enough to move ahead of Castres in the rankings to obtain fifth place, but the reward remains meager and the disappointment immense.
Hastoy missed the match point
From the first minutes of the match, Bayonne suffered from opposing pressure on its defensive returns. That said, their discipline has long hampered Ronan O’Gara’s men, who are much less comfortable in this exercise.
First to shine against the posts, Camille Lopez sent a penalty attempt on the upright (8th), but the scorer proved more precise to convert the try of the colossus Tevita Tatafu (11th, 7-0). Slowly but surely, the 35-year-old fly-half adjusted his footing to widen the gap before the break (20th, 10-0), then after returning from the locker room (44th, 13-0).
Long limited to the idea of tapping into touch to score a try, La Rochelle missed several opportunities to unlock their counter with a penalty, and this undoubtedly did not help Hastoy to gain confidence. With forceps, the European champion managed to break the Bayonne lock by Judicaël Cancoriet, well offset by his captain Grégory Alldritt (68th, 13-5).
Five minutes later, it was Alldritt’s turn to celebrate his birthday with a try, converted this time (73rd, 13-12). In the final minutes, Pieter Scholtz lacked foresight in his defense, giving Hastoy the opportunity to put La Rochelle in front for the first time in the match. But the post decided otherwise, and Bayonne thus achieved a 28th consecutive success in its fortress of Jean-Dauger.