La Rochelle fell to a disappointing defeat in the Top 14 yesterday, with head coach Ronan O'Gara tearing into his players after their 28-17 loss at Lyon.
After experiencing a difficult start to the season, La Rochelle had bounced back well in recent weeks in both domestic and European competition. They secured a spot in the Champions Cup knockout rounds with an away win over Sale Sharks last month, while they had also moved up a few spots in the Top 14 table.
However, yesterday's result has halted some of that recent momentum.
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Ronan O'Gara tears into La Rochelle players after Top 14 loss
Ronan O'Gara was in a fiery mood after the game, questioning why the officials did not award a try to his team after Joel Sclavi crossed the line at one point in the match.
However, he directed most of his fury at his own players.
Speaking after the final whistle, O'Gara questioned the attitude shown by his team both in the buildup to this fixture and the game itself, labelling it as 'shameful'
I can’t be disappointed because I saw how we trained. This week, the players were more focused on real estate prices on the Ile de Ré than on the field.
It depends on what you want in life. If you want to be rich in apartments or houses, or rich with medals. So no, I’m not disappointed or surprised...
We weren’t good at anything. Neither in possession, nor in desire, nor in vision, nor in execution… It’s a dark day for the club.
It’s too easy to say that there are absentees. For me, that doesn’t explain this horrible, almost catastrophic performance.
With all the respect I have for their club, Lou (Lyon) was dying in front of us at 14-3, and we are not capable of killing this match. It’s serious, but it’s exactly a reflection of what happened in training.
I’m not surprised, I’m disappointed. The message is not getting through. The young (Louis Keziah) Penverne and (Oscar) Jégou were the most efficient in terms of aggressiveness. The rest…
If I can give a solution after this, I’m a genius. This is not my vision of how to represent your club on Saturday afternoon. We were not a club that respects its supporters, its family… It was quite shameful.
La Rochelle currently sit in ninth position in the Top 14, although it is expected that they will be in contention to win the competition by the end of the campaign. They also have a Champions Cup knockout game against Stormers on the horizon, with a victory in South Africa far from a given.
Ronan O'Gara will certainly be demanding nothing but the best from his players as the club enter a pivotal period in their season.
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