La Rochelle prepare to face Munster in a crisis of their own making

Since then, La Rochelle have lost at home to Leinster and at Treviso in the Champions Cup. In the Top 14, they have been well beaten at Toulon, Lyon and Clermont; picked up a losing bonus point at Stade Francais, another at home against Racing 92, and drew in front of their home fans against Castres.

They have slipped from sixth to 10th in the domestic rankings, after sitting third immediately after the November internationals. Remarkably, perhaps, they remain just four points adrift of the post-season race for the Brennus. It may as well be 12.

“We’re looking both ways – up and down,” attack coach Remi Tales admitted after last Saturday’s slip-from-in-front loss at Clermont.

Tales was a La Rochelle player in that 2010/11 relegation season. Now he’s coaching a near-toothless attack in a side that appears to be slowly drifting in the same direction, apparently rudderless.

No one can ignore that La Rochelle is a club in the doldrums – O’Gara admitted as much in February when he questioned his own future. Those in the thick of it tend to publicly deny the obvious for as long as possible.

But the undeniable truth is that the squad that Ronan has in part built is getting long in the tooth. This was always something of a holding season pending a squad refreshment in July with the arrival of young flagship recruits Nolan Le Garrec and Davit Niniashvili.

Expect also to see more players making the step-up from the side’s academy squad, which is currently second in the Espoirs Elite Group Poule 1, and who topped their pool to reach the semi-final stage of the competition last season.

But that’s the future. This is now. And La Rochelle are in a crisis of their own making.

Even after Teddy Iribaren left the club mid-season and injury forced Raymond Rhule into earlier-than-expected retirement, 16 regular players in the current senior squad are on the wrong side of 30. As injuries take longer to heal – and La Rochelle have had their injury troubles this season – age has undoubtedly wearied them.

At the same time, and even with a set-in-their-ways squad, La Rochelle have tried to evolve their playing style. The shift in priorities started last season, but the great goal of 2024/25 was to be more attacking, to step away from the defence-heavy style that, despite winning them two Champions Cups, had grown predictable.

It was never intended to be a playing revolution, but the next phase in an evolution of the squad. A rebalancing – to make more of the holes in opposition defences created by their pack.

What’s that line about old dogs and new tricks? Besides, predictable doesn’t equal easily stopped.

Some 19 of La Rochelle’s squad were at Marcel Deflandre in 2020/21, when they reached their first Champions Cup final, at Twickenham, where they lost to Toulouse. They were there when they won European club rugby’s biggest prize the following year in Marseille. And again when they repeated the trick in Dublin in 2023.

Hermetic defence worked then. In the 2021/22 season, O’Gara’s teams conceded points at an average of less than 18 per match. That figure remained pretty stable over the next two seasons – at 18.4 and 19.1. In the Champions Cup pool phase this season, the points conceded column averages a healthy-looking 18.75. But, domestically, they’re shipping points at a rate of more than 25 per game.

With six rounds of the Top 14 season left, they have conceded 53 tries after 20 matches, compared to 49 all last season.

Six months, and 24 matches, into the Brave New La Rochelle World, it seems the rebalancing is falling behind on its promises. The power plays and the power players are still there – Uini Atonio, Reda Wardi, Will Skelton, Gregory Alldritt and Paul Boudehent haven’t suddenly lost their flex factor – but the connection between attack and defence keeps shorting out.

According to the numbers, no side in the Top 14 runs more with the ball in hand; only one – Toulouse – passes more after contact; and the Rochelais are fourth in terms of overall possession and passing.

But, working hard isn’t working smart. La Rochelle are scoring at a rate of less than 22 points per match. In the French top flight, only Perpignan’s stagnated attack is worse.

As they look ahead to Munster, La Rochelle are caught between two playing stools. They want to attack more, to play more: “We’ve had a lot of discussions about how to change our game, to vary it a bit, because it was quite predictable,” Antoine Hastoy said in February, after the thrilling loss 45-26 at Toulon – a match featuring more than a smattering of their younger players. 

“We can’t just give up every time there’s a break or a defeat. We have to keep up our efforts and find a balance.” 

But their direct history is hard to break. Poor results, combined with players missing through international call-ups and injury have almost forced La Rochelle to revert to type.

And it hasn’t worked. “We can’t play more than six phases right now,” O’Gara said after the draw against Castres.

“We need to find our DNA again,” added fly-half Ihaia West. “La Rochelle’s DNA is to win the fight. We need to do things simply and precisely. If we do it with a little aggression, we can regain confidence.” 

That’s the key. And its absence is killing La Rochelle. As Tales said: “Confidence takes a long time to build. On the other hand, doubt or a loss of confidence comes very quickly, after two or three poor performances.” 

O’Gara has repeatedly insisted that form only matters at the business end of the season. It wouldn’t be the first time the Rochelais have used Europe to build late-season momentum, but they have had little choice but to put their entire campaign in this weekend’s basket.

“We’ve lost the last two Champions Cup games,” veteran prop Uini Atonio said last weekend. “But if we win [against Munster], it could revive the season.”