The Basques can touch wood: a miracle allowed them to win over La Rochelle on Saturday evening. In a good position, maritime flyhalf Antoine Hastoy saw his ball hit the outside post two minutes from the end on a penalty goal that looked like a match point.
For not having been able to improve their highlights, the Rochelais therefore bowed at the end of a match which they dominated territorially. Clumsy for an hour, uninspired with ball in hand, the double European champions developed their game, certainly, but without rhythm or conviction. That’s all the Bayonnais needed to shine in defense, united and organized.
After a missed penalty goal by Camille Lopez against the posts – this is rare enough to be noted – the Bayonnais took action and quickly found the fault through their solid right pillar Tevita Tatafu (10th). Lopez having regained focus in the 20th, Rowing propelled itself into the lead (10-0), an advance which it maintained until the break before improving it from the restart (44th, 13-0) thanks to a second goal from the same Lopez.
Alldritt allowed the Rochelais to believe in it
Unable to materialize their long and frequent highlights, in particular between the 48th and 65th, powerless in the scoring zones and decided to favor penalties rather than penalty attempts, the Rochelais, until then not very sharp, had the right idea of then playing standing up to take advantage of their numerical superiority after the yellow card inflicted on Bruni (63rd) for repeated mistakes with a first try signed Judicaël Cancoriet (67th).
The Basques therefore paid a high price for their indiscipline, conceding a second full-field try, signed by the French and La Rochelle captain Grégory Alldritt (73rd), transformed by Antoine Hastoy, who will only know this success. Clinging to this point in advance like a shipwrecked man on his buoy, Héguy’s teammates managed not to sink, helped by the amount of a post to the delight of their audience in a Jean-Dauger stadium where they remain undefeated .
