Hard blow for La Rochelle

At the dawn of Saturday’s trip to Northampton on behalf of the 4th day of the Champions Cup, La Rochelle, already guaranteed to play in the round of 16 of the competition, learned some very bad news. Thierry Paiva will indeed be absent for three to four months. The fault of the serious shoulder injury contracted by the right pillar of the Maritimes, last Saturday during the new victory of the Rochelais (the third in three games in the European Cup), at home against Ulster (7-3) . Paiva, once again established by Roman O’Gara, had been hit hard from the start of this meeting, which had forced him to leave his teammates after only ten minutes of play and to leave his place on the lawn of Marcel-Deflandre to Joel Scalvi. From then on, O’Gara and the Rochelais knew that they should expect to do without the services of Paiva for a little while. The right pillar of the Maritimes will have to wait three to four months before finding the land. On Wednesday, he was indeed operated on for a dislocation.

A medical joker to make up for Paiva’s long absence? Not necessarily…

A very hard blow for the reigning European champions, currently third in the Top 14. “It’s a difficult time for him, it’s time to leave him a little quiet,” said the Stade Rochelais coach. at the microphone of RMC, while hoping that this setback will not only be a black spot for Paiva. “This injury must be an opportunity for him to come back even stronger,” said O’Gara, who could decide to call on a medical joker, knowing that Reda Wardi, who is one of the 42 players selected by Fabien Galthié for the 6 Nations Tournament, should also be lacking for a while. Unless La Rochelle relies on Scalvi and only him. O’Gara doesn’t rule out the idea. “We don’t want to take a medical joker just to take a medical joker. We’re looking at all the options, but Joel was perfect last weekend. »