the essential
In terms of rugby, it has been a long time since the Garonne chose its camp between Toulouse and Bordeaux… Faced with Bordeaux euphoria, will the Toulouse experience prevail for a 23rd Brennus?
Before the semi-final against La Rochelle, we insisted on the fact that the Stade liked to challenge and panic the statistics with five consecutive victories in the final stages against the same opponent. The sixth having arrived, today it is appropriate to bring out a somewhat stunning and rather reassuring one for Toulouse supporters.
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Stade Toulousain-Bordeaux-Bègles Final: why is the Vélodrome a cursed stadium for Antoine Dupont?
For 16 years and a defeat against Munster in the European Cup final, 16-13, in 2008, Stade Toulousain has always won its finals. That is a total of nine: six Top 14 finals (Clermont in 2008, Montpellier in 2011, Toulon in 2012, Clermont in 2019, La Rochelle in 2021 and 2023) and three Champions Cup finals (Biarritz in 2010, La Rochelle in 2021, Leinster in 2023).
“Today, we don’t want it to end there”
You will have counted with us: half of the Shields were gleaned with the Dupont generation since 2019. And from 2012 to 2019, as Cyril Baille confided in La Dépêche this week, the wait was heavy: “The Shield in 2019 is a wonderful memory because we spent seven years without winning anything. In the end, we worked hard and, today, we don’t want it to stop there.”
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Stade Toulousain – Bordeaux Bègles Final: “This double does not constitute additional pressure…” Didier Lacroix launches the match
Yes, and this is probably the main strength of this group, it cannot be satisfied with a title here and there. It wants to win again and again. And today, in Marseille, Stade Toulousain has one more reason to win: to achieve a second double after that of 2021. With this in mind, it will therefore take a consecutive 10 out of 10 in the final.
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INTERVIEW. Stade Toulousain-UBB Final: “They have a survival instinct that I haven’t seen anywhere else”. Franck Belot discusses the new generation of the Stade
Conversely, the adversary, because he presents a new identity, appears opposite with no title in his history; the previous three having already been acquired under the banners of Stade Bordelais and Bègles-Bordeaux (1909, 1969 and 1991).
The UBB arrives with its weapons
So it is a new challenger that faces the Stade. And the degree of mistrust is all the more reinforced as the Bordeaux-Béglais staff includes in its ranks some illustrious Toulousains who won titles when they played in Toulouse.
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Final Stade Toulousain – Bordeaux-Bègles: the Jalibert and Tameifuna surprises, absence of Tambwe… Discover the UBB line-up
In any case, on the ground, the experience is Toulouse and the Bordelais take pleasure in repeating it in the hope of better putting their opponents to sleep. From Maxime Lucu: “It’s clearly a mountain given their season, their record, their habit of playing these matches. There will be an imbalance in the experience.” To Yannick Bru: “We don’t compare ourselves, it’s incomparable. We talk very little about the opponent.”
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Stade Toulousain – Bordeaux-Bègles Final: “Toulouse has no rival…” A legend of the “rouge et noir” gives his prediction
The fact remains that UBB’s confidence capital was boosted yesterday at the time of the team composition with the starting positions of Tameifuna and Jalibert when Stade lost three men since the semi-final (Baille, Lebel, Faasalele).
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REPLAY. Stade Toulousain – Bordeaux-Bègles final: the Tameifuna and Jalibert cases, Mola’s doubts… Relive the press conferences
It also remains that the UBB three-quarter line seems capable of moving mountains, even if, let’s not forget to point out, the Union is one of the teams that play the most on foot. The challenger therefore comes forward with quite a few aces up its sleeve. All the more reason for Stade to raise its level compared to its semi-final win. Probably the key…
