2023-09-06 15:06:47
The mercury panics the counters and is around 33 degrees in the shade at the end of summer. All the more reason to keep a cool head among the Dhalluin. “We will exchange a few balls later, in the meantime let’s have a drink”, strikes the patriarch, Jérôme, white jersey of RC Toulon, unique model of 1968, pegged to the body. For once, the famous third half will precede the first two within this tribe of enthusiasts. “When we get together as a family, it’s inevitable, we play a little together, all generations combined”, he explains from the bottom of his garden. Like every year, children, grandchildren and loved ones come together to play rugby. “A tradition that dates from my father”, says the dean.
These RC Toulon aficionados are delighted at the idea that the most beautiful of competitions, the World Cup, starts in France on September 8th. Over the year, if the members of this happy home have been, by the course of life, separated to the four corners of France, none would risk supporting another club. At home, there is only Toulon. Rivalries with Grenoble or Toulouse, a club which nevertheless helped the RCT to be created at the beginning of the 20th century, are felt in the discussions, most of the time in flowery language.
From a local club to an international machine
At home, as in many other families in the region, the unconditional love of the Toulon jersey is omnipresent. This does not prevent Thierry Vrevin, president of the Mayol’s Club supporters club, founded in 2001, from taking a contrasting look at it. “It evolved a lot between the 1970s and the attachment of young people nowhe launches immediately. Rugby has turned professional. The players who wore the colors of the club and the city were generally from the vintage, which is no longer the case. »
Since the end of the 1990s, Toulon, like other big French clubs, has gone from a local and family club to an international machine. « The Mourad Boudjellal years (president of RC Toulon from 2007 to 2020, editor’s note) have done good for the club, recalls Thierry Vrevin. He had been able to maintain this dialogue with the supporters while accepting this transfer. » This led to a prosperous period, crowned with three European championship titles.
From now on, the South-East club is under the aegis of the Financière de la seigneurie, a holding company founded and directed by Bernard Lemaître. A new direction that is struggling to seduce. Apart from a Challenge Cup (second European Cup after the Champions Cup, editor’s note) obtained in June 2023, the prize list, hitherto well stocked by the RCT, has come to a halt. “For five or six years, we have remained anonymous in the Top 14, regrets Thierry Vrevin. Now we have a direction that the club culture seems alien to. They are more managers than enthusiasts. »
“Some young people have gone to football”
RC Toulon continues to modernize. By becoming the first rugby club to enter the Metavers universe of The Sandbox – an Internet platform where users can create their avatar and play rugby virtually – the management wanted to provide supporters with its advantages and enable them to Watch exclusive club videos. A gadget that does not convince, judge Thierry Vrevin: “The club is turning to the virtual,but the public is light years away from that. »
In this context, the transmission of the passion of the club is hampered. « DFor some time now, a form of weariness, due to the lack of results, seems to be watching the younger generations, notes, powerless, Thierry Vrevin. Losing matches isn’t the biggest deal, it’s the way to lose them, he analyzes. When you have players who look like they’re there for the sun, it’s frustrating. And the younger generations are arguably more impatient than we were. »
An observation shared by Christophe Charraut, official launcher of the famous pilou-pilou, traditional song, taken up by supporters, before RC Toulon matches at the Mayol stadium since 2019: “At the stadium, we still see children, but it’s true that some have gone to football…” Far from being discouraged, the man who has been at the head of the Le Narval bar since 2014, is launching a new establishment this fall on the outskirts of his favorite stadium. “The idea is to create a unique place where passion and transmission of the club’s values will be the key words.explains the interested party. I had noticed that around the stadium there was less and less atmosphere. The other bars were only open during the match, to make money. There was no more this madness, with the merguez sausages, the tambourines, the parades of supporters… and I wanted to remedy it. »
The king sport is the oval
The South-East region is also strongly marked by a persistent rivalry between football and rugby. Beyond the cliché of two hordes of supporters who cannot coexist, the climate remains tormented. “The public has nothing to do, insists Thierry Vrevin. They are different mentalities. I’ve never had the slightest problem with an opposing supporter during a Rugby World Cup. This is less true in football. “I was educated on the principle that, when you are a supporter of RC Toulon, you cannot be a supporter of Olympique de Marseille, it is impossible, abounds Christophe Charraut. At the time, it was the war between the supporters, it is a hard legacy to forget. »
Even within the families, some however agree differences. “Our eldest son seems to be a football addictsighs mischievously Noah Dhalluin. Even if we try to convert him to rugby, nothing helps, he swears by OM. But hey, we love it anyway! », he laughs.
A World Cup to breathe
A few days before the start of the World Cup, all these fans are playing predictions. Many hope to see France perform, others have reservations. “We are very proud that some of our players have been selected, insists Thierry Vrevin, but, in reality, they are players who rarely play for the club, with the busy schedule of the XV of France. And when they play for the club, they play carefully so as not to get injured. »
“The Toulon team is a passion linked to our region and there is an extraordinary daily enthusiasm aroundabounds Christophe Charraut. The France team is more about the pride of belonging to a nation. » The entrepreneur also explains that he feels “much more pressure and stress” in a final between Toulon and Clermont-Ferrand than in a key match for the Blues.
However, all of them are betting on a World Cup effect to boost discipline, across the region and beyond. “If France maintains its rank, or even more, there will be a return on investment in the number of licensesbelieves Thierry Vrevin. Young people will say to themselves that, in the end, this sport, this universe, these values… it’s worth it! »
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A club registered in the heritage of rugby
Created in 1908, Racing Club Toulonnais waited until 1931 to obtain its first title of champion of France. The Southeast Club now has 4 Brennus Shields.
The good years are those around 2010, when the Club is under the management of Mourad Boudjellal. In addition to the title of Top 14 champion obtained in 2014, the club is European champion three times: in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2023, RC Toulon gleans the Challenge Cup, the equivalent of the second European Cup. ‘Europe.
In a hundred years, the RCT has become not only the sporting heritage of Toulon and its region, but also one of the mythical clubs of national and international rugby. Today, 8,000 people are subscribers.
If, during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the city of Toulon will be the base camp of the reigning world champion team, South Africa, the Mayol stadium has not been selected to host a match.
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