La Rochelle will travel to Toulon after all on Saturday 8 November, for a rearranged round 3 Top 14 fixture, lifting the uncertainty that hung over the game after the bombshell statement from their manager, Ronan O’Gara.

The Stade Rochelais head coach had sown confusion on Sunday evening, after his side’s comfortable win over Racing 92 (33-6). Exasperated by the rescheduling of this fixture in the middle of an international window originally set aside for time off, O’Gara had suggested the solution might be to “forfeit the match” so that his players could draw breath after what he considers a punishing schedule.

Anger at the calendar and a political show of force

The Irish coach had denounced a “catastrophic” situation and an injustice, because, in his view, rescheduling the match at Mayol removes the only genuine break for his squad, unlike the other Top 14 teams. “Part of the squad has had an intense workload, without any real rest“, he explained. He went on: “I’m going to ask the dressing room whether it’s better to take a holiday or to go to Mayol. Maybe it’s better to take two weeks off like the other teams. It’s a disaster. We have to go to Toulon again, we’re the ones being punished. Why wasn’t there a pitch available to play the next day? That’s not our responsibility.“

Despite the manager’s forceful rhetoric, the prospect of an actual forfeit was always considered unlikely. Such a move would have exposed the club to heavy sporting and financial sanctions from the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR).

In the end, the club’s board confirmed that the team would indeed travel to the Var to face Rugby Club Toulonnais, an in-form opponent currently third in the championship. O’Gara’s media intervention therefore looks more like a “show of force” aimed at denouncing the LNR’s handling of the calendar and defending his players’ interests. It remains to be seen whether the staff will choose to field a reshuffled side, already without several internationals, in order to rest some of their key men.