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'Disaster... not fair': Furious Ronan O'Gara threatens Top 14 boycott
By Josh Raisey
La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has said that withdrawing from their rescheduled fixture with Toulon this weekend is an “option”.
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Toulon were forced to postpone their round three meeting with O’Gara’s side due to flooding at the Stade Mayol in September. The match has now been slated for Saturday, November 8, during what was originally planned to be a two-week break for the league before it resumes on the weekend of November 21.
O’Gara has taken umbrage at this decision, saying it is his team who are being “punished”.
Following La Rochelle’s 33-6 victory over Racing 92 on Sunday, which lifted them to sixth in the Top 14 with the game in hand, O’Gara vented his anger, questioning why there were no measures in place to reschedule the match on the same weekend La Rochelle had made the 800km+ journey to Toulon.
The decision, O’Gara said, will be left to his players, who would have been expecting a break.
“It’s a disaster,” O’Gara said after victory at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre. “We have to go to Toulon again, and we’re the ones being punished. Why wasn’t there a pitch available to play on the next day? It’s not our responsibility.”
“I don’t know why we have to go, the rules aren’t the same, we’re being punished because we have one less week of vacation. It’s not fair.”
“I’m going to ask the players, when I get back to the changing rooms, what we’re going to do. Lyon conceded 50 points (in Toulon), Racing 45. Are we going on holiday tomorrow? I’m going to ask the players in the changing rooms for their answer. It’s a difficult match (that awaits us), I don’t know why we have to go, the rules aren’t the same, we’re being punished because we have one less week of holiday. It’s not fair. We’ll see if we go to Toulon.”
“It’s the players who will decide, because you can’t go there without soldiers.”