Not impressed.
Sure of their strength.
The Rochelais delivered an impressive start to the match, overpowering Saturday, against Toulouse, for their first Champions Cup final.
The maritime forwards, already monstrous in the semifinals against the Irish from Leinster, literally crushed the Reds and Blacks for a good half hour at Twickenham.
"There was intensity, that was the goal," agreed La Rochelle manager Jono Gibbes, after the match.
All the finals are intense, and this one too.
We put a lot of intensity throughout the game.
But it is not on the intensity that we lost the match, it is on details. "
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La Rochelle then seemed untouchable and the people of Toulouse were powerless to stop the formidable and powerful machine that stood in front of them. And then the final turned to a fact of the match: the logical expulsion of Fijian center Levani Botia for a dangerous tackle struck on the head of Maxime Médard. “Of course, it changes everything to take a red card during the final, but we talked about it, we did not change much, continues the New Zealand technician. We felt that the key to the match would be to come out of our camp efficiently, to stay disciplined in the middle of the field and to insist in their 22 meters. If we could have continued to do that, even at fourteen - something that is difficult to do - we thought that would have been the key to the game. So at the end of the daywe followed our plan and we were able to put pressure on it. ”
On the other hand, far from there the idea of overwhelming Botia, one of the bulldozers of the team, a history of the club which was already there in Pro D2, seven years ago.
"You can imagine the state in which he was in the locker room.
But we saw the respect everyone has for him.
He's a real warrior.
And I think the other 22 players on the team gave everything for him and gave us the chance to win this game.
And that's because they have great esteem for him.
It's difficult to take a red card in the final but the decision is indisputable.
It's like that.
But I think the reaction of the players has proven the love they have for him, and the solidarity that drives this group, ”insists Gibbes.
Huge regrets
Except that in the end, the regrets are enormous. Several players were in tears at the final whistle, despondent, distraught. This was the case with Grégory Alldritt, once again the author of a titanic match. But the Rochelais have, at times, lacked realism, like this forward hooker Pierre Bourgarit in the in-goal to could have revived his own. This lack of efficiency, the Maritimes are aware of. “We will do an analysis next week to move forward. What is certain is that the intensity was there and a final is played on details, admits Alldritt. And we may have failed on two or three details and we paid cash at the end… ”And to press:“ Of course, we lacked realism, we were in too much of a hurry. These are things that we have to work on for the rest of the season. ”
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It now remains to get up, to digest this disillusion and to start again for the end of the season in Top 14. The Caravelle club is currently second in the standings, so there are still four (or even five, if it does not finish). not in the first two) matches to go for a title.
Racing 92 and Clermont got there in 2016 and 2017: beaten in the Champions Cup final, they went to lift the Brennus in stride.
"We say to ourselves that we have done a lot, we have spent a lot of energy to get there and the goal will be to transform all that for the end of the season, so that the energy put into the European Cup is not not lost for the end of the season ”, positive Grégory Alldritt.
Jono Gibbes, who will leave Charente-Maritime at the end of the year to join Clermont, is aware that he will have to work to re-mobilize his group and help it get back on its feet.
“The fact that we are so disappointed to have lost this final and to do so at fourteen shows our strength.
It was a real test of character.
The next 48 hours are going to be very difficult for the players, their families and also for the supporters.
But my message to the supporters is: Trust the character of this group. ”
In pain, Stade Rochelais grew again on Saturday at Twickenham.
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