RONAN O'Gara's apparent protest at his latest match ban for verbally abusing a referee prompted fans to joke 'Incredible meme potential here'. The La Rochelle boss copped a five-week touchline suspension from the French Rugby Federation’s appeals committee for “actions against a match official" during a January loss to Toulon. The severity of the ban seemingly led to a protest from the Ireland icon prior to his side's 30-29 victory over Vannes on Saturday. Parlez-Vous French Rugby report he refused to leave the team bus for the first 20 minutes of the match to make it clear he is unhappy with Top 14 authorities. In doing so he missed the game's opening pair of tries. While the Munster legend looked to be in a sour mood, plenty of wider rugby followers found the funny side in the whole thing. Gearóid Slattery quipped: "Incredible meme potential here." However, others were more scathing in their verdicts. One person criticised: "Ronan looks to be on the downward slope after an early run of success — wouldn’t be a shock if he walks soon. "As for the tantrums? Acting like you missed your school milk and won’t settle til you get your gold star. Embarrassing stuff." Another X user agreed with that prediction, replying: "Reckon it could be a ‘mutual’ parting of ways at the end of the season. "There is very much a vibe of 'taken this team as far as I can'. Think ROG has recognised this. "Squad getting a much-needed refresh next year - possible opportunity for a new coach too." Having endured a dire run of form that saw them go winless from January 4 until April 19, which included being dumped out of the Champions Cup by Munster, La Rochelle have turned a corner in recent weeks. The 2022 and 2023 European kings have won three in a row on the back of last weekend's thriller. That run has seen them rise up to seventh in the table, with an extremely symmetrical record of 11 wins, 11 losses and one draw. They'll need to finish in the top six in order to clinch a play-off berth with three rounds of fixtures left to go.