2023-06-09 23:24:18
The Toulouse staff offered themselves the luxury of leaving Antoine Dupont fifteen minutes from the end of the match. GAİZKA IROZ / AFP
Stade Toulousain made short work of the Ile-de-France club this Friday, in San Sebastian, during the first semi-final of the Top 14 (41-14).
At the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastián (Spain), sold out for the occasion (40,000 spectators), the Toulouse stadium came out as the big favorite when it came to challenging Racing 92 in the semi-finals. Faller of the neighbor of Stade Français in the play-offs (33-20), the Ile-de-France residents had a lot to do, knew it and to tell the truth, the meeting demonstrated it perfectly. “In the final phase, it is especially those who are hungriest who win. And we are hungry“Warned François Cros before the meeting.
Defeated twice during the regular season by their evening opponent, the Ciels et Blancs did not work miracles and once again plunged against Stade Toulousain (41-14). Seven years now after the last of its six Brennus, Racing has not been up to scratch and has logically, quite tragically lost.
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 on Saturday afternoon, between UBB and La Rochelle. 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 on a four-day internship in Portugal. In this insane schedule, this break has been good and allowed to regenerate.
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«We have a lot of appetite to get as far as possible this year“Advanced Antoine Dupont in the preamble to the meeting, as a warning. Racing, a “team capable of bringing danger with not much» as Antoine Dupont claimed before the meeting, did not offer anything and collapsed from the first acceleration in Haut-Garonne.
15 exciting minutes where the two teams chained the incursions without being dangerous. After the cool break, Stade Toulousain accelerated and immediately punished the largesse left by the Racing defense. Toulouse winger Mathis Lebel deserted his left side with a sharp cross race and, after an excellent shift, was able to rush into the rearguard of Ciel et Blanc to start this meeting (5-0, 17th).
Thomas Ramos excellent on foot
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 transformations and two converted penalties, the Toulouse number 15 guided his people 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.
This short truce that one would have believed saving for the men of Laurent Travers had the opposite effect. From the start of the second act, the Toulouse, unleashed, scored two tries, reducing to nothing the hypothetical hopes of Ile-de-France. Alexandre Roumat (25-0, 57th) and Arthur Retière (32-0, 57th) successively annihilated the ambitions of Ciel et Blanc.
We even thought that Racing would leave fanny but while Ugo Mola and his staff had made a plethora of changes, Gaël Fickou (34-5, 70th) and Ibrahim Diallo (34-12, 75th) had the merit of registering each a try to save honor.
The defeat against Leinster in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, which one could imagine was still in Toulouse’s minds, did not disturb number 9 and his family: “This 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 score the final try (39-14, 80th). 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’s not for now. A last step, the most important, remains to be climbed.
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