After the lesson inflicted last Sunday on the Parisians (53-20), the Racingmen expect a last stand from their rivals, in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions Cup.
The slap received last week has left its mark. For the first episode of their unprecedented triple confrontation in three weeks, the Parisians were unceremoniously swept away, at Paris La Défense Arena, by their neighbors and rivals Racing 92. A great success for Ciel et Blanc (53-20) which definitively buried the last Parisian hopes of reaching the final stages of the Top 14.
“Before the second half, we said things to each other but we gave too many points, too naively, and at this level, it is unacceptable. They grew in confidence, and we entered into doubt., acknowledged the manager of the Pink Soldiers, Gonzalo Quesada. And recognize: “Playing a derby and taking fifty points, it’s not shameful, but it inevitably hurts, yes, and we all took a hit in the back of the head, all of us.”
And now the best enemies meet, this Saturday in Jean-Bouin, in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions Cup. Go back to the mine, despite the hangover. “We focus on what depends on us, continues the Argentinian technician. We want to live up to the event, our jersey and our supporters. We also want to build on the future.Not easy in such a negative spiral. “It is out of the question now to tarnish the European Cup, we will see the character of certain players and we will not deprive ourselves of certain challenges.“, had slammed Quesada.
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Change of scenery then. Opposite, the Sky and White are wary of the reaction of pride of the Parisians, upset and reassembled after this disillusionment at the Arena. “We are expecting to face overexcited guys who will want revenge, confirms Racing hooker Teddy Baubigny. We expect another game. When we take on water, we tighten up on the fight, on the aggressiveness, on the game in front. So yes, we expect a tense match.
If I had suffered a loss like that and had the chance to play again against this opponent, I would be eager to show something else. We expect to meet a wounded beast
Henry Chavancy
Same observation on the side of the center Henry Chavancy, accustomed to the Ile-de-France derbies: “It’s another competition. Last week’s game is useless. If we had won by one point, the result would have been the same. We saw that we had a lot of difficulty in the first half against this team. We expect a match of this intensity. If I had suffered a loss like that and had the chance to play again against this opponent, I would be eager to show something else. We expect to encounter a wounded animal.”
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The Racingmen are not necessarily thrilled with the idea of playing this round of 16 on a round trip format. “In a final phase, I like dry matches, it has a little more “the smell of blood” in quotes, says Chavancy. Whatever the result this weekend, there will be another game behind. There is not this cleaver side of a dry match. Teddy Baubigny agrees: “This new formula does not necessarily please me. It is more complicated, there are more matches too. These return matches, I am not for. The final phases are played over one match. It’s the classic format of rugby but we adapt.
Maybe they’ll come back to a more direct, more frontal game, simple things. But we worked it
Teddy Baubigny
Anyway, Racing 92 will do everything to continue in this competition – “This is the priority objective of the team”, claims Baubigny -, after failing in the final in 2016, 2018 and 2020. No time to trip over the carpet. “They will be revengeful, repeats Chavancy. They will bring in some vital forces. The context will be different. We ignore the first game.
Selon Baubigny, “maybe they will go back to a more direct game, more frontal, simple things. But we worked on it.” Since Racing’s return to the top flight in 2009-2010, the two rival clubs from Ile-de-France have faced each other 27 times. The Sky and White have won 17 times and remain on three successes in the derby.