La Rochelle (AFP)
La Rochelle, red lantern at kickoff, took advantage of the arrival of champion Toulouse to finally launch his season with a success (28-13) Saturday at home, opening the 4th day of Top 14.
Poussifs and not far from conceding a draw against Stade Français two weeks ago (28-26), the Maritimes have this time showed a much more conquering face, especially after the locker room where they made the difference to score with three registered trials.
The only downside for them, the offensive bonus acquired at the hour of play that they let escape following a greed of Vincent Rattez countered, which resulted in a test for the honor of Tekori (68th).
The French champion, who had suffered only two losses away last season, is now three in three trips after Bordeaux and Lyon. Once again, the absence of internationals was felt even if the group aligned by Ugo Mola still looked great.
For proof, its domination during the initial twenty minutes, perfectly led by the hinge Bézy-Holmes, which sanctioned premises under pressure of a penalty (7th) and rewarded a strong time of hers of a drop (0-6, 20th), the first of the season.
Then everything was disrupted by the rushes of Rattez including who impelled the revolt by finding spaces and putting his people in the advance and the visitors to the fault. Ihaia West had three penalties in seven minutes (9-6, 32nd).
This mordant displayed continued with the recovery with one after another two tests Liebenberg (43) served by hand at hand and at height by Uini Atonio, then sprinter Arthur Retière after a nice sequence juggling Jeremy Sinzelle (21-6) , 47th).
Toulouse lost the lead and definitely winger Werner Kok, guilty of a bump forward (54th). This numerical superiority was exploited by Rattez who played alone the defense high Garonne, before his blunder eight minutes later depriving his own bonus.
© 2019 AFP