La Rochelle and Toulouse will compete for the Bouclier de Brennus trophy, the symbol of French rugby supremacy, in Saturday’s Top 14 final. Toulouse has won the trophy an astounding 21 times and has deep local traditions reflected in the stylized letters on their club crest and the black and red colors taken from the robes worn by pre-revolutionary Capitouls. La Rochelle, viewed in French rugby as nouveau riche, is not a new club, having been founded in 1898. Under the leadership of coach Ronan O’Gara, who has created a culture of “us against the world, La Rochelle has emerged as provocateurs and embraced their role as disruptors of the aristocratic order.
La Rochelle boasts the best defensive record in the Top 14, and their defense has been dubbed “le Mur de l’Atlantique (the Atlantic Wall). Toulouse has rediscovered its form, and in scrumhalf Antoine Dupont has a player whose brilliance has been compared to that of Gareth Edwards in the 1970s. While La Rochelle, the bookmakers’ favorites, will need 80 minutes of excellence to bring the Brennus to their Atlantic home for the first time in 125 years, Toulouse’s deep-rooted traditions and support from the rest of France suggest that another day of high drama awaits. The winner of the Bouclier de Brennus, an old piece of wood with immense value in French rugby, will hold rugby riches that will last a lifetime.
