1 An obvious accounting issue

You could think that by winning in Bordeaux (15-16), La Rochelle had done the hardest part for qualification. Except that it’s not so simple, that Lyon won in Brive (17-31), and that if it goes wrong, the Maritimes could find themselves 7^are getting back on the plane. “Of course we are aware of the situation in the standings, but what’s the point? Asks Ronan O’Gara. I’m more interested in the process that we put in place. “Grégory Alldritt added that he and his family, “without wanting to play the game of favorite or not favorite”, going down to Haute-Garonne “without pressure”.

On the Toulouse side, four points behind in the standings, there is no room for error. And the risk of not living the final stages in the event of defeat is real. “The context is obviously huge, we told Rory Arnold midweek. On respect La Rochelle, they have a lot of internationals and it’s always very tight. I have no doubt that again it will be very tight. »

2 Five in a row, stop or again?

“The journalists were talking about the series we lost in Bordeaux, this time we will hear the negative series we have against Toulouse. That’s the game ! Pierre Bourgarit smiles, he knows the song. It’s up to the Rochelais to interrupt this interminable series of defeats if they don’t want to hear any more about it.

A positioning that may be a little radical, nuanced by “ROG”: “It all depends on how you view this discussion. There is no bad luck, no desperation in losing two finals. Toulouse was the best team in France and Europe. That’s the past but it’s still two finals, and there were 40 other coaches who would have liked to swap places with mine. To show that you have learned from a defeat in the final, you have to go back to the final, and that is very difficult. So we have no proof, but this weekend’s match is a step to see if we have learned anything. Especially on the mental side. »

An aspect where Rory Arnold, whether he thinks it or not, assures us that his Red and Black teammates have “not at all” a psychological advantage over the Yellow and Black.

3 The Stadium and its crazy week for theater

Monday, the TFC went back to Ligue 1. 24,000 spectators, a 2-0 victory against Niort, an invasion of the lawn and an enthusiasm that the Violets found, they who have missed so much for years. Five days later, the Stadium and its round ball grant themselves an oval parenthesis. Full for a week, he intends to make noise, again, for his second match at stake of the week.