"We're only a small town, you know, we're not supposed to be here.” - Will Skelton revels in La Rochelle's achievement

The champagne will still be flowing on the west coast of France as the maiden celebrations of La Rochelle hoisting the Champions Cup live on. It was an inspired effort by all involved as the French outfit, finding themselves 8 points adrift at one stage, clawed their way back into the game and, through a colossal forward effort at the death, snatched both match and title.  

One of the stand-out performers in the La Rochelle jersey was the giant Wallaby second-row, Will Skelton, who scrummed, tackled, carried, rucked and mauled his heart out for the whole game. He had the following to say after the match: 

“It means everything to this club, to me, to the boys. We're only a small town, you know, we're not supposed to be here,” Skelton told BT Sport. 

“We're not supposed to be playing in these big games but we stepped up this year. It hurt last year, it hurt a lot but sometimes you've got to lose some to win one so it's a great feeling. 

“I think we showed a lot of character there. We're a big team, we're a power team ,we're not the fittest team, like a few articles I read during the week, but it showed how much we care about this club, this town and for each other.” He was unsure how long the party would last back home in La Rochelle, there is still a return to the Top 14 final to negotiate, beginning this Sunday at Lyon, who celebrated Challenge Cup success last Friday night, when O’Gara’s team need to win the final game of the league season to be sure of a play-off spot. 

“We've got Lyon next week so I don't know how long we're going to party,” Skelton said, “but it's going to be a good time in the Port.”