La Rochelle know exactly what’s waiting for them in South Africa on Saturday, and they’re under no illusions about the scale of the challenge.
Assistant coach Donnacha Ryan says the French giants are bracing for a “serious test” in the second round of the Investec Champions Cup against a Stormers side he believes are one of the form teams of the competition.
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The Stormers head into the Gqeberha clash riding a wave of confidence with seven wins from seven matches so far this season including back-to-back away wins over Munster and Bayonne in the last fortnight, and Ryan made it clear La Rochelle are treating the Cape side with the utmost respect.
“Look, they’ve been on a serious roll,” Ryan said after La Rochelle’s 39-20 dismantling of the Leicester Tigers on Saturday. “They’ve had two massive away wins in the last couple of weeks, so it’s really, really good. They’re in a good state of confidence at the moment.”
The match is being played in Gqeberha because the Cape Town Stadium hosts the World Supercross event on Saturday, which means the match has been moved to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium as it’s the Stormers’ official alternate venue for this competition.
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The Frenchmen already know what it feels like to take on the Stormers in South Africa. They fell to a last-minute Manie Libbok penalty at the Cape Town Stadium in 2023, but then got one back a year later in the Round of 16. Ryan admits though that Port Elizabeth presents a fresh challenge.
“It’s been a learning curve for us, we’ve been down to South Africa twice already. We’re off to Port Elizabeth which is a different place to visit. We’ll review our game and look to get better next week.”
Despite bagging a full five-point win against Leicester, Ryan was brutally honest about La Rochelle’s shortcomings.
“We weren’t precise. We kept putting pressure on ourselves… we’ve got a lot to work on from our point of view ahead of our trip to South Africa, but also very happy with the five points.”
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