3 DECIDING FACTORS

• Carry efficiency — Rochelais turned possession into points at a rate Montauban could not live with
• Defensive fragility — 110 tackles made, 33 missed, 748 metres conceded
• Red card at 48' — Montauban's resistance collapsed entirely in the final half-hour

FINAL TAKE

Rochelais closed their regular season with a statement of intent, eleven tries on the road against a Montauban side already consigned to the bottom. The playoff race remains alive for the visitors, eighth in the table and within striking distance of sixth. Montauban finish rock-bottom with one win from twenty-four, a points differential approaching minus-eight-hundred, and the heaviest defeat of a dismal campaign. The card made the final margin ugly. The performance made it inevitable. Rochelais were the sharper side before the dismissal and became clinical after it — that is the difference between a playoff-calibre outfit and one that has been relegated in all but name since February.

PHASE PLAY & GAINLINE

Rochelais controlled the collision from the opening whistle and never let go.

The visitors carried 102 times for 748 metres, crossing the gainline on 76% of attempts. Montauban managed 53 carries for 325 metres at 68% gainline success — competitive percentages, catastrophic output. The hosts won individual collisions but could not convert them into sustained pressure. Rochelais turned every platform into points. Montauban turned theirs into restarts.

The CER* gap tells the story with brutal clarity. Rochelais posted 6.05, Montauban 0.83. One side generated clean breaks, offloads, and forward momentum with every run. The other ground out short gains and conceded turnovers. The difference was not effort — it was execution under pressure, support lines, and the ability to punish passive defence.

Montauban's phase-play breakdown was structural. They conceded 16 turnovers against six won. Rochelais exploited every loose carry, every unsupported runner, every moment of hesitation. The hosts competed in the contact but lost the race to the next breakdown. That is a coaching problem. It is also the inevitable outcome when a bottom-placed side faces a team still fighting for playoff survival.

SET PIECE

Rochelais dominated the lineout and applied scrum pressure when it mattered.

The visitors won 13 lineouts from 13 attempts, claimed two steals, and forced Montauban into 80% success from their own throw. Perfect execution on their own ball, disruptive on opposition ball — that is the platform for a rout. Montauban lost three lineouts from fifteen attempts, each one killing attacking momentum. The scrum told a similar story. Rochelais won seven from eight; Montauban won four from four but spent the afternoon defending penalties conceded at the breakdown before scrums could become a weapon.

The maul was not a try-scoring weapon for either side — zero maul tries between them — but Rochelais used it as a territory tool, forcing penalties and pinning Montauban deep. The hosts could not generate the same pressure. Their set piece was functional but never threatening. Against a side chasing playoff qualification, functional is not enough.

Lineouts (success) 12/15 (80%) 13/13 (100%) Scrums 4/4 7/8 Rucks (efficiency) 28/33 (85%) 63/66 (95%)

KICKING Kicks from hand 17 24 Kick/pass ratio 0.28 0.13

BREAKDOWN

Rochelais won the ruck battle comprehensively and exploited every unguarded ball.

The visitors posted 95% ruck efficiency, winning 63 from 66 contests. Montauban managed 85%, winning 28 from 33. The percentage gap looks narrow. The contest was not. Rochelais committed bodies fast, secured every carry, and recycled at pace. Montauban arrived late, competed in isolation, and gave away penalties trying to slow what they could not stop.

The turnover count sealed Montauban's fate. Rochelais conceded 13 turnovers across 102 carries. Montauban conceded 16 from 53. Every third Montauban carry risked a turnover. That is unsustainable against any opponent, let alone one with the attacking firepower to punish every loose ball. Rochelais converted six turnovers won into field position and scored three tries within two minutes of Montauban concessions.

The red card at 48 minutes turned a breakdown problem into a collapse. Montauban could not commit enough bodies to secure possession and defend the next phase. Rochelais scored tries in the final half-hour, each one built on a platform the hosts could not contest.

DEFENSIVE AUDIT

Montauban made 110 tackles and missed 33 — a 23% miss rate that gifted Rochelais the field.

The hosts worked hard in defence but could not execute under sustained pressure. Rochelais beat 33 defenders, made 11 clean breaks, and found soft shoulders in every channel. Montauban's edge defence was porous. Their midfield struggled to shut down second-phase ball. Their back three could not cover the width Rochelais created with offloads and skip passes.

Rochelais missed four tackles from 50 attempts. That is 92% completion. Montauban's 77% completion is relegation-grade defence — which is exactly where the hosts finished. The visitors did not need to take risks. They trusted their line speed, competed at the breakdown, and waited for Montauban to crack. It did not take long.

The yellow card to a Montauban forward at 26 minutes cost ten points. The red card at 48 minutes cost the remainder of the contest. The visitors scored tries with fifteen men on the field, five with fourteen. The card shifted the margin. The defensive fragility made the rout possible before a man left the pitch.

ATTACKING PATTERNS

Rochelais built their attack on width, pace, and offloads — Montauban had no answer.

The visitors completed 180 passes to Montauban's 60, maintained possession through 23 offloads to four, and stretched the defence until it snapped. Their attacking shape was clinical. First receiver pulled defenders in, second phase went wide, support runners arrived at pace. Montauban defended the first phase and had no bodies for the second.

The clean break differential tells the story. Rochelais made 11, Montauban made two. Every Rochelais break came from a second-phase offload or a skip pass that bypassed the defensive line. Montauban's two breaks came from individual brilliance, not system. One led to a try. The other died in contact with no support.

Rochelais ran a kick-pass ratio of 0.13 — they kept the ball in hand and trusted their runners. Montauban posted 0.28 and kicked more often, but without the chase speed to compete. The hosts turned the ball over 16 times and gave Rochelais the field position to attack from. That is not a game plan. That is damage control that failed.

DISCIPLINE

Montauban conceded six penalties, one yellow card, and one red card — Rochelais conceded twelve penalties and two yellow cards.

The visitors gave away twice as many penalties as the hosts but never lost control of the contest. Two Rochelais yellow cards came for cynical infringement with the scoreboard already comfortable. The red card to a Montauban forward at 48 minutes was the defining disciplinary moment of the match. It came for foul play in contact and left the hosts with fourteen men for the remainder. The player faces a disciplinary hearing under standard citing protocol.

Montauban's earlier yellow card at 26 minutes came during a period of sustained Rochelais pressure. The visitors scored two tries in the following ten minutes. The hosts could not afford to lose bodies. They lost two across the match and conceded 38 points after the red.

Rochelais absorbed their cards, adjusted, and kept scoring. Montauban could not do the same. That is the difference between a team chasing playoff qualification and one playing out the string.

Penalties conceded 6 12 Yellow cards 1 2 Red cards 1 0

PERSONNEL VERDICTS

[Engine-stamped from teamsheet match_stats — every figure traces to the sidecar. Numbers: t=tries, ta=try assists, m=metres carried, db=defenders beaten, cb=clean breaks, off=offloads, tk(mt)=tackles(missed), tw=turnovers won.]

US Montauban: Tjiuee Uanivi (Openside Flanker) — 1t, 24m, 1db, 1cb, 10tk(2mt) Yvan Reilhac (Right Wing) — 1ta, 73m, 1cb, 2off, 7tk(2mt) Sikhumbuzo Notshe (Number 8) — 1t, 24m, 10tk(2mt)

Stade Rochelais: Jules Favre (Left Wing) — 3t, 66m, 2db, 1cb, 2off, 2tk(1mt) Adrien Seguret (Inside Centre) — 1t, 64m, 8db, 1cb, 4off Nathan Bollengier (Replacement Fly-half / Centre) (sub) — 1t, 1ta, 36m, 2db, 2cb, 1off, 1tk(0mt)

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE SEASON

Rochelais finish eighth with 63 points, two places and seven points outside the playoff cutoff. This result was too late to salvage their season but restores pride and momentum. They scored eleven tries on the road, posted a CER* of 6.05, and showed they belong in the top six. The draw did not favour them across the campaign. The performance here suggests they could have competed with better fortune.

Montauban finish bottom with seven points from twenty-four matches, one win, one draw, a points differential of minus-762, and fifty-four tries scored against 175 conceded. This was the heaviest defeat of a season defined by them. The red card made the margin humiliating. The underlying performance was consistent with every loss before it. They could not defend, could not convert possession, could not compete at breakdown pace. That is a structural failure that requires more than a summer rebuild.

The playoff race continues without Rochelais. The relegation question was answered months ago. Montauban drop down. Rochelais stay up and wonder what might have been.

MATCH NUMBERS [Engine-stamped from team_stats — every figure traces to the sidecar. Cite by canonical label; do not type the values yourself.]

US Montauban Stade Rochelais Tries 2 11 Carries (runs) 58 114 Gainline carries (crossed+not) 53 102 Gainline % (crossed/sum) 68% 76% Carry metres 325 748 Tackles 110 50 Missed tackles 33 4 Turnovers won 3 6 Turnovers conceded 16 13 Clean breaks 2 11 Defenders beaten 4 33 Offloads 4 23 Scrums won / total 4 / 4 (100%) 7 / 8 (88%) Lineouts won / total 12 / 15 (80%) 13 / 13 (100%) Possession % — —

STATS TABLE

US Montauban Stade Rochelais ATTACK Possession 35% 65% Territory — — Carries · Metres 58 · 325 m 114 · 748 m Gainline carries · Gain line % 53 (68%) 102 (76%) Clean breaks · Defenders beaten 2 · 4 11 · 33 CER* 0.83 6.05

DEFENCE Tackles (missed) 110 (33) 50 (4) Turnovers (won / conceded) 3 / 16 6 / 13