A demonstration. With four tries, Stade Toulousain crushed Racing 92 (41-14) this Friday, in San Sebastian, during the first semi-final of the Top 14. The Haut-Garonnais were already leading 20-0 at the break . They pushed their lead to 34-0, before seeing the Fraciliens reduce the gap and save the honor, at the end of the match Toulouse will challenge La Rochelle or Union Bordeaux-Bègles on Saturday June 17, at the Stade de France , for the gain of the title of champion of France and what would be his 22nd Shield of Brennus.
Stuck in a black series of three defeats in a row in the semi-finals, Stade Toulousain broke the curse and is therefore going to challenge the winner of the duel between UBB and La Rochelle on Saturday. The physical freshness of Toulouse had a decisive impact on the meeting. While Racing fought in the play-offs to secure this semi-final, Ugo Mola and his staff took their players for a four-day internship in Portugal. In this insane schedule, this break has been good and allowed to regenerate.
“We have a lot of appetite to get as far as possible this year,” said Antoine Dupont in the preamble to the meeting, as a warning. Racing, a “team capable of bringing danger with not much”, as Dupont still revealed, did not however offer anything and collapsed from the first acceleration in Haut-Garonne.
The game started with an exciting 15 minutes, in which the two teams chained incursions without being dangerous. After the cool break, Stade Toulousain accelerated and immediately punished the largesse of the opposing defense. Toulouse winger Mathis Lebel deserted his left side with a sharp crossover run and, after an excellent shift, was able to rush into the rearguard of Ciel et Blanc (5-0, 17th).
Practically in stride, Emmanuel Meafou widened the gap after a try scored above the ruck (12-0, 23rd). In this one-sided first-act ending, Thomas Ramos was flawless on foot. With two conversions and two converted penalties, the Toulouse number 15 guided his team by putting them on excellent track. Groggy by the backstops of the band at Ugo Mola, the Ciel et Blancs were unable to react. Asphyxiated, the siren that sounded in the Stadium sounded like the end of ordeal (20-0 MT).
The break in the form of a saving truce for the men of Laurent Travers? No, rather the opposite effect. From the start of the second act, the Toulouse, unleashed, scored two new tries, reducing to nothing the hypothetical hopes of the Ile-de-France region. Alexandre Roumat (25-0, 57th) and Arthur Retière (32-0, 57th) in turn annihilated the ambitions of Ciel et Blanc.
We even thought that Racing would leave fanny of the usual playing field of Real Sociedad, but while Ugo Mola and his staff had made many changes, Gaël Fickou (34-5, 70th) and Ibrahim Diallo (34 -12, 75th) had the merit of each registering a try to save the honor.
The defeat against Leinster in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, which one could imagine was still on Toulouse’s minds, did not disturb number 9 and his family: “It gave us a renewed appetite and motivation for the end of the season. To have even more desire to bring back this shield to reward the beautiful season that we had. To echo the words of his captain, François Cros stole the ball from the Ile-de-France rearguard and even went to register the final try (39-14, 80th, then 41-14 final score).
It’s a hell of a slap for Cameron Woki and his family against a team that is simply far superior. Now, a page is turning for Racing and a new chapter begins with a new manager and a new chairman of the board. Stuart Lancaster will take the reins of the team and will have a lot to do to breathe new life into this group. Reinforcements have already been announced and next season starts now. For Toulouse, it is not for now. A last step, the most important, remains to be climbed.
