“My fear was that we would have a game fact against us”… Lot-et-Garonne referee Ludovic Cayre talks about his first Top 14 final

Friday, June 28, at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, the Top 14 final was refereed by Ludovic Cayre from Lot-et-Garonne. A big first for the man in black from Duras. Four days after this very high-level match, which ended with a crushing victory for Stade Toulousain over Union Bordeaux-Bègles (59-3), the pressure has eased for the Duraquois. “I’m a little tired. These last few days have been very intense. When you play a final, you’re caught in a kind of washing machine. But I’m happy, it went well,” confided Ludovic Cayre.

With this Top 14 final, the 35-year-old referee was going to the revealer. Two of the best French teams of the season, a stadium packed to the rafters and an incandescent atmosphere. Ludovic Cayre and his refereeing team were not to miss. “My goal was that we, the referees, would not be talked about after the match. My fear is that we would have an incident of play, like a red card, which would have worked against us. But that was not the case,” says the relieved thirty-year-old.

“The last ten minutes were magical”

To “get into the game”, the latter needed to turn off his phone 48 hours before the final. “I was in high demand, whether from my loved ones or the media, so I turned off my phone to be able to concentrate,” added the Lot-et-Garonnais. Then, I decided to approach this match like a normal championship match. During the whole pre-match, I didn’t feel the atmosphere there was. I was in my own bubble. The pressure eased little by little, as the match went on. And the last ten minutes were magical. After the match, we stayed on the pitch for 1 hour 30 minutes. There was nothing left but the stadium was still full. I took the time to really enjoy it. The atmosphere was truly incredible.”

Ludovic Cayre admits that the match scenario helped him a lot. It’s hard to blame the referee, a true national sport in France, when the score is so heavily in favor of one team. “A final is either all black or all white for the referees,” says the 35-year-old. “It’s easier to referee with such a large score than when the final ends with a two-point gap. When the score is large, it’s harder to blame us for anything.”

“An international match as a central referee is the next step”

Despite a one-sided match for Toulouse, with nearly 60 points going to Bordeaux, Ludovic Cayre had ordered his team of referees at half-time to maintain maximum concentration. “A final is a special match, different from a classic championship match,” he said. “This type of scenario where a team takes the score very quickly can quickly be reversed in a final. I reminded my colleagues. At half-time, we were at 22-3. The fear I had was that we would relax in the second half. So I remobilized my team.”

After this good performance in such an important and high-profile match, Ludovic Cayre could be chosen to referee an international match. An additional step for the boy from Duras, who was a touch referee during an Ireland-Argentina match a few months ago. “An international match as a central referee is the next step,” says Ludovic Cayre. “I’m working to get there.”