La Rochelle show steel, Toulouse show frailty — and a 30–27 opener makes sense
This wasn’t about rust or romance; it was about who controlled the gain line and who kept their nerve in a ground that rarely forgives lapses. Stade Rochelais were looser than they’d like at set piece and played the last nine minutes with 14, but they carried harder, missed fewer tackles, and were composed enough for Antoine Hastoy to win it at the death. Champions or not, Stade Toulousain learned again that Marcel-Deflandre asks different questions.
Toulouse arrived loaded with their internationals and intent — Ugo Mola had said pre-match he was “lassé de repartir avec des ‘roustes’ à chaque fois à Marcel-Deflandre,” and he picked like a coach determined to change the pattern. For 40 minutes it looked like it might. Then La Rochelle squeezed them, turnover by turnover, carry by carry, and the champions coughed up a winnable game.
La Rochelle
Toulouse
C. Kante-Samba (14'), N. Garrec (51'), A. Hastoy (64')
Tries
T. Menoncello (16'), E. Meafou (22'), R. Ntamack (28')
N. Garrec (14', 52'), A. Hastoy (65')
Conversions
T. Ramos (17', 23', 29')
N. Garrec (26', 55'), A. Hastoy (80')
Penalties
T. Ramos (31', 58')
The scoreline turns on three moments rather than neat momentum swings. Toulouse’s first-half edge came from clean, clinical strikes: three converted tries in 13 minutes off the back of sharp midfield running and tight-five punch. Tommaso Menoncello was the point of the spear — 10 carries, 106 metres, six beaten — and Emmanuel Meafou finished one of those close-range sequences that demoralise. But La Rochelle were never out of the contest in terms of collision or territory; they were just wasteful, and a 71% lineout didn’t help them build pressure.
What changed wasn’t mystique, it was discipline and density around the ball. La Rochelle owned more of it (53% possession), ran more often (94 carries to 71) and broke more often (23 defenders beaten to 13). When Toulouse’s bench arrived, the visitors’ penalty count ticked up — nine in all — and the yellow for Georges-Henri Colombe on 62 minutes cracked the door properly open. Nolann Le Garrec had already dragged La Rochelle back with a snipe and 15 points in total; against 14 he and Hastoy lifted the tempo, and Hastoy’s try at 64, then the conversion, levelled it.
Paradoxically, the red to Tolu Latu on 71 looked like the release valve Toulouse needed. It wasn’t. With a man up and the set piece functioning (82% lineout), they still couldn’t manufacture the decisive field position. That is the telling part: Toulouse had the structure, but they lost the breakdown races when it mattered and missed 23 tackles overall. La Rochelle, even down a hooker, denied front-foot ball, slowed rucks and forced Toulouse back to the boot. When Hastoy missed a drop at 79 it felt like the last chance gone. When Toulouse infringed a minute later, it felt like a pattern. Hastoy’s penalty made sure of it.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
RED CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
If you want the shorthand: La Rochelle’s carry profile and tackle accuracy outweighed their set-piece wobble and late card; Toulouse’s red-zone polish didn’t survive their second-half accuracy drop. That matches the eye test and the numbers. It also explains why a three-point margin doesn’t flatter the hosts — they spent more time asking questions and coughed up fewer cheap penalties. If anything, Toulouse will feel fortunate to have left with a losing bonus after being outscored 20–3 after the break until that red card.
Individuals mattered. Le Garrec was the axis — varied tempo, kicked his goals, took his chance — and the new nine-ten dynamic with Hastoy looked properly dangerous once the forwards gave them ruck speed. Davit Niniashvili was the best back-three player on the park at 97 metres, constantly turning Toulouse’s chase and buying exits when La Rochelle badly needed them. Up front, Grégory Alldritt led the tackle count (12) and the tone, while Théo McFarland brought gain-line teeth from six.
For Toulouse, Menoncello is a clear positive at 12: direct running that bent the line and created the space for Romain Ntamack to pick off support lines. Antoine Dupont was combative, but too often delivering under pressure rather than creating it, and the back five balance without Jack Willis or Anthony Jelonch told at the breakdown. François Cros (12 tackles) held up his end; others fell off too many. The bench mixed outcomes: a steady lineout, but the Colombe yellow and a couple of costly penalties in the final passages will sting on review.
Stade Rochelais
Forwards
- 1Alexandre KaddouriLoosehead Prop
- 2Pierre BourgaritHooker
- 3Karl SorinTighthead Prop
- 4Charles Kante-SambaSecond Row
- 5Thomas AdelaideSecond Row
- 6Theo McFarlandFlanker
- 7Oscar JegouFlanker
- 8Gregory AlldrittNumber Eight
Backs
- 9Nolann Le GarrecScrum Half
- 10Antoine HastoyFly Half
- 11Dillyn LeydsLeft Wing
- 12Simeli DaunivucuInside Centre
- 13Ulupano SeuteniOutside Centre
- 14Jack NowellRight Wing
- 15Davit NiniashviliFull Back
Replacements
- 16Tolu LatuSubstitute
- 17Louis PenverneSubstitute
- 18Paul BoudehentSubstitute
- 19Andy TimoSubstitute
- 20Sam TuifuaSubstitute
- 21Matthias HaddadSubstitute
- 22Sacha ElissaldeSubstitute
- 23Aleksandre KunteliaSubstitute
Stade Toulousain
Forwards
- 1Rodrigue NetiLoosehead Prop
- 2Julien MarchandHooker
- 3Paul MallezTighthead Prop
- 4Thibaud FlamentSecond Row
- 5Emmanuel MeafouSecond Row
- 6Francois CrosFlanker
- 7Romeo Bonnard MartinFlanker
- 8Alexandre RoumatNumber Eight
Backs
- 9Antoine DupontScrum Half
- 10Romain NtamackFly Half
- 11Matthis LebelLeft Wing
- 12Tommaso MenoncelloInside Centre
- 13Pierre-Louis BarassiOutside Centre
- 14Ange CapuozzoRight Wing
- 15Thomas RamosFull Back
Replacements
- 16Peato MauvakaSubstitute
- 17Benjamin BertrandSubstitute
- 18Joshua BrennanSubstitute
- 19Theo NtamackSubstitute
- 20Paul GraouSubstitute
- 21Kalvin GourguesSubstitute
- 22Teddy ThomasSubstitute
- 23Georges-Henri ColombeSubstitute
Where did it turn? Around the contact zone, not the clock. La Rochelle stopped conceding easy metres after half-time, fixed their spacing, and tackled; Toulouse’s attacking shapes looked the same but were receiving slower ball and running into shoulders rather than seams. Add the discipline ledger — six penalties conceded by La Rochelle against nine — and you land on a home side that earned repeat entries and a visiting side that kept letting them off.
So what now? For La Rochelle, the takeaway is resilience layered on top of punch: a backline that can play on front-foot ball and a pack that, even imperfect at the lineout, outworked the champions at the breakdown. The work-on is clear — tidy the throw and cut the cards, because another red will cost them. For Toulouse, the first-half execution says the title machine still hums, and Menoncello at 12 looks a proper wrinkle. But 23 missed tackles, a soft penalty to lose on 80, and an inability to close with a man advantage underline that this push for five won’t carry itself. Clean up the contact, clean up the discipline, or Deff’landre nights like this will keep happening.