LThe players and staff of Union Bordeaux-Bègles were treated to a gigantic guard of honour. There were easily 700 people, if not more. As the final requires, it was the first time that so many people had come to give them extra motivation before they boarded their two buses. “Let the whole of France see that the people of Bordeaux-Bègles are behind their team,” the speaker said in the sweltering heat. “Don’t worry, they will be on time, because they have a plane to catch,” he warned at around 1:30 p.m. Bottles of water, “offered by the president,” had been distributed in large quantities to the crowd.
When the door of the Ceva Campus finally opened amid general jubilation, the signs of encouragement and respect from the supporters took the form of friendly pats on the shoulder, even in the palm of the hand, but without too much insistence, obviously out of consideration for their concentration, as if the audience felt that everyone was already in their match. Damian Penaud was the first to come out. Under incessant chants and rows of flags, the French international and his teammates crossed the training ground without signing autographs, but with exchanges of looks and smiles that were worth all the conditioning.
Cassette perdue
Lionel was already there in 1991. This retiree from the SNCF, now 73 years old, worked at the Saint-Jean station at the time. With his colleagues, he had witnessed, “around 8:30 a.m.”, the departure by train for Paris of “the famous Rapetous team”. However, it is difficult to speak of a feeling of déjà vu. The welcoming committee on the platform was, to hear it, less impressive than on Wednesday June 26. “There was André Moga,” he remembers. The players were approachable. We felt serenity. They were messing around. Vincent Moscato had a beautiful leather cap. » The former railway worker had filmed everything. “But I lent the tape and I never found it,” he slips. The opportunity to launch an appeal. We never know. His prediction for Friday? “A post coming in for Maxime Lucu just before the siren,” he said mischievously.
“We are going to win over a maul, a magnificent tortoise over 10 meters which goes directly to the test”
Julien doesn’t lack imagination either. Before the end of the Top 14 season, he would sign for another scenario: “We are going to win on a maul, a magnificent turtle over more than 10 meters which goes directly to the test. » A nod, again, to 1991, to this Brennus shield won at the Parc des Princes against the same opponent as this year, Stade Toulousain (19-10). How old was he on that memorable day? “One year,” he smiled. But this final has been told to me a hundred times. Just yesterday in fact. » On the road, he will have time to revisit the past again. A member of the United BB supporters club, he will be in the stands of the Stade-Vélodrome in Marseille. “We leave Friday morning at 5:45 a.m.,” he says. It will be nine hours one way, including stops. »
Close score
Present in large numbers on the synthetic pitch of the “performance centre” set up in the André-Moga stadium in Bègles, the children of the CA Bordeaux Bègles Gironde rugby school had prepared their own ceremony to transmit positive vibes to their elders. As before each training session and each tournament, they had planned to make their “little war cry” in a circle, which is called “the checkerboard”. Kenzo, 9 years old, starts: “I say 29-24 for UBB.” A five-point difference is really the maximum when you do a quick poll. In order to respect the balance of speaking times, here is the point of view, which will remain anonymous, of a very young rugby player: “Once, I saw a match between Toulouse and Perpignan where Antoine Dupont scored a hat-trick. It was this match that made me love rugby. So I am 60% for Toulouse. But if UBB wins, I will still be happy.”
It was time for Bernard to put on his helmet. His motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson, was parked behind the buses. “I did Route 66 with it,” he explains. I put three UBB flags on it. I hope to follow them to Mérignac. »
