I was actually working on something else while watching the late game when this evening request came in for a Top 14 round-up, leading on La Rochelle’s defeat to Castres from the Irish Examiner, came in – articles about the team apparently do really well in Ireland.
Turns out the wire services had been mysteriously silent on the French league this week. I was more-than happy to step in. It may only be a one-off, but I’ve said before they’re good folks at the Exa and I’ll help out if I can. I got the bulk of the short piece over to them inside 30 minutes, then sent over one final paragraph to cover the late match – which involved Racing 92 and Simon Zebo – on the whistle.
The Top 14’s two-week break cannot come soon enough for Ronan O Gara’s La Rochelle, after they slipped to their second defeat in as many matches despite outscoring their opponents two tries to one.
James Harrington: Freelance sports journalist 