La Rochelle delivered one of its best performances of its season against a Clermont team completely absent from the debates. Brice Dulin played an exceptional game, while Sowakula was very disappointing.
The tops
Judicaël Cancoriet has only been in Rochelais since last summer, and yet the third row gives the impression of having been on the shores of the Atlantic for years. Maritime the most used by the staff, captain in the absence of Grégory Alldritt, the former Clermont returned a new full copy against his former teammates. Lots of activity for him, and the first try for his team after magnificent work from Seuteni and his friend Tanga.
We should all have a Brice Dulin in our lives. Serene, classy, precise, enterprising, the weather does not seem to have any impact on the rear of La Rochelle. “We are winning the kicking battle and that is important“, confided a very lucid Sébastien Boboul at the start of the game at the microphone of Canal +. Christophe Urios made the same observation, and it is partly thanks to the golden foot of Rochelais that the “Stade” built this crucial success for the continuation of the season.
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Summoned by Fabien Galthié to prepare for the fourth match of the 6 Nations Tournament with the French team, the right pillar of La Rochelle undoubtedly wanted to prove. Colombe stepped up on Marcel-Deflandre’s pitch and offered a lot of solutions by showing off his usual power. It is also in his characteristic style that he wrote his attempt, with, note, good hands to flatten without committing a forward move. It’s a shame that he doesn’t look up at his great breakthrough in defense, but that in no way detracts from his very good quality match. A beautiful message sent to Fabien Galthié just before joining Marcoussis.
Colombe, here called by Teddy Thomas, did not have the lucidity to transmit to his winger. But the right pillar played a good part before joining the Blues.
Paul Boudehent and Greg Alldritt absent, no problem for La Rochelle, which definitely has an exceptional reservoir in the third line position with Cancoriet, Botia and therefore Tanga, but also Jegou and Haddad. Number 8 finished the match with more than 30 meters gained and 4 defenders beaten, statistics which clearly illustrate his heavy activity in the evening.
The flops
Very complicated match for the former number 8 of the Chiefs. With Fritz Lee absent, the New Zealander had the difficult task of taking over and faced with La Rochelle’s third line, brilliant this Sunday evening, he failed in his mission. Lots of rough choices, a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, in short a meeting to forget for Sowakula, and overall for ASM.
The Clermont lineup encountered immense difficulties in Deflandre, and it was almost impossible not to see the Australian in the flops of this meeting. Even if Thomas Lavault read the opposing announcements perfectly several times, and his replacement was not more successful, Fainga’a is no stranger to this bankruptcy. Also penalized in scrum, and not very active in the game. Two missed tackles.
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The young scrum-half suffered from the comparison with his opposite number Tawera Kerr-Barlow. He was not helped by a dominated pack of forwards, certainly, but we would have liked to see him take more initiative, lead the way with a dazzlingness of which he has the secret. His kicking game did not allow ASM to put pressure on La Rochelle, but in this regard, too, he is not the only one to blame.
Used for the first time this season at the back, Joris Jurand was in difficulty in this meeting. If opposite, Brice Dulin shone by crisscrossing the field brilliantly, this was not the case for number 15 from Clermont. He also lost his one-on-one against Teddy Thomas who led to the second La Rochelle try scored by Jules Favre. On the rare balls he had to negotiate, he was well monitored by the La Rochelle defense.