How do you react to the end of such a long wait? When Antoine Hastoy booshed the ball high into Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the relief in the roar of the sell-out still-believing crowd – the 103rd in a row at Marcel Deflandre – was palpable. Pitchside, O’Gara blew out his cheeks – the universal signal of a close-run thing, before his face cracked into a genuine, wide smile for the first time in what has seemed like forever. And attack coach Sébastien Boboul sat, head in his hands and tears in his eyes, for some time. Perfection is an impossible goal in rugby. And this was a far from perfect performance against a solid, determined and well-drilled Bayonne playing classic on-the-road rugby. More than once, La Rochelle were caught-out over-complicating things near the visitors’ line. More than once, they struggled to react when they were turned over. More than once, they played with fire and nearly got burnt. But character, more than organisation, more than strategy, got them through. Oscar Jegou crashed over for their first try with five minutes on the clock. That, and three Hastoy penalties took them into the break 16-8 ahead. But Bayonne wouldn’t go away. Tevita Tafafu and Giovanni Habel Kuffner scored to give the visitors a 19-25 lead just before the hour. The fear was back. La Rochelle looked about to lose another match they should have won. Until Gregory Alldritt blitzed through the last line of defence, to end a long spell of on-the-line pressure. Hastoy – perfect off the tee – converted to take them far enough ahead for Cheikh Tiberghien’s 75th-minute penalty not to affect the result. “A few weeks ago, we would have lost a game from that situation,” winger Dillyn Leyds told journalists. “The guys were very happy in the dressing room, but we also know that we made a lot of mistakes, gave away far too many points to our opponents and that we still have a lot of work to do.” Tawera Kerr-Barlow agreed: “It’s a relief,” he said. “We know we’ve been playing below our best since the start of the year. We’ve lost a lot of games by the skin of our teeth. This time we showed our character, especially when we were behind. We knew we could win.” Perpignan boss Franck Azema was another coach happy to return to winning ways after seeing his side pick up a 28-24 victory at home against Racing 92, ending a winless run dating back to January 25. Giant second row Posolo Tuilagi returned to action for the first time since breaking his leg in September – coming on as a second-half replacement in the 69th minute. He played just four minutes before being yellow carded for head contact in a tackle. A highlight-reel try for Louis Bielle-Biarrey – he has scored in every match he has played in 2025, has 16 in his last 11 outings and 28 in 24 matches this season – turned the tables as Bordeaux came from behind to beat Pau 22-26 at Stade du Hameau, their sixth away win in the Top 14 this season. Old-fashioned up-the-jumper rugby did the job for Castres under a cloudburst at Stade Pierre Fabre, as they picked up a bonus-point 32-13 victory over basement side Vannes. Louis Le Brun, however, finished off an attack that should feature in the Top 14’s top-five tries of the weekend. Challenge Cup semi-finalists Lyon have lost just three games since Karim Ghezal took charge at the beginning of December – at Connacht, Castres and Bayonne. They extended their impressive run with a 32-23 win at home against Montpellier. Lyon’s last-four opponents on May 4, Toulon, beat Clermont 31-24 in an enthralling primetime eight-try encounter at Stade Mayol. On Sunday night, Peato Mauvaka captains an inexperienced Toulouse side – coach Ugo Mola has Bordeaux semi-final things in mind next month – as they head to Stade Jean Bouin, where they have not won since March 2019, to face Stade Francais.