Should we still believe it? Five days before the end of the regular season, the lights are red for the CAB. Last, 9 points from 13th, Perpignan, relegation seems promised to the Corrèze club. Unless there is an unlikely start from a team that has lost its last six Top 14 matches (its last league victory dates back to January 7 against Toulon).
To believe it (a little bit), it will necessarily go through a full card at home (the Stade Français this Saturday, then Pau and Castres, trips to Montpellier in Toulouse seem out of reach). The meeting against the Parisians is therefore decisive. Win “to continue to hope” or lose and “spend a rotten end to the season”, summed up the pillar Daniel Brennan in the columns of La Montagne.
A rebellion of his players, Patrice Collazo has been asking for it for a few weeks. Unsuccessful so far. Called at the end of December at the bedside of the CAB, the former manager of the RCT had started with three victories. Before the soufflé falls. “We are above all in the fight with ourselves”, he had dropped on the evening of the heavy defeat in Clermont (38-10).
A speech reiterated since. “Perhaps we have to go beyond the bobo. Want to really bring something to the institution. Because, beyond personal cases, there is an institution which is at stake. try to save the club from relegation.
Where could the click come from? Perhaps the arrival of a big size. Last Friday, the CAB announced the recruitment with immediate effect (and until June 2025) of Welshman Ross Moriarty. A powerful center third line with a big CV: British lions and 54 caps for Leek’s XV. But, at 28, he has not been selected since the 2022 Six Nations Tournament. His contribution could however restore a bit of ambition to his teammates.
Patrice Collazo implores his players to believe in it until the end. “As long as there are points at stake and as long as it is not cooked mathematically, we must fight, not let go of the matches. (…) Brive ran away when last season? On the last day. That’s it…” But playing with fire, you risk ending up getting burned.
