It’s easy make metaphors, but at our local Rivedoux plage beach in Ile de Ré a gigantic 14-and-a-half ton whale washed up a few days ago. This giant was over 14 metres long, and experts deduced it had clearly been ailing for some time as it drifted to shore. Its demise made headline news here. All I was thinking is whether I should keep swimming around there.

Make of all that what you will, but the final round of the 10-month exhausting Top 14 regular season this weekend will leave a couple of big beasts on their backs for the summer. And La Rochelle, two-time European champion, might well be one of them.

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