Crowned with his last title conquered at the end of the suspense on May 25 against Leinster, the Toulouse Stadium find it Champions Cup this Sunday, December 8. A home match against Ulster Irishthat they had already met in the group stage last year but in Belfast (24-48). A reunion to inaugurate a group phase that is tough to say the least, which raises questions within the Rouge et noir club. “I don't understand“, breathes international fullback Thomas Ramos. “I don't understand the system of this competition at all. Whether here or with other players in other clubs with whom we have spoken about it, we do not understand the format of this competition, but here we are, so…“
“Champions don’t necessarily have an advantage”
“We have four matches to play, the goal is to win all four matches if you want to be the highest ranked“continues the Toulouse man.”There, you are asking us the question, but in itself, whether we comment on it or not, it will not change anything. But here it is, I believe that the year when La Rochelle is champion, the year before us, they find themselves in a death pool the following season. For us, when we see our group this year, it is perhaps also the strongest in the competition so in the end, the champions do not necessarily have an advantage over the groups… it's quite complicated, but we are there, we will play the matches, and we will see where it takes us in the end.”
“There is no point in winning to at least estimate or think that we could have a slightly more comfortable group” laughs as for him and manager Ugo Molawhen raising the issue. “Beyond being strong in terms of the quality of the teams we meet, the group is strong in terms of the travel to be made, with these meetings at Exeter and the Sharks, which are two complicated destinations. We had until now been spared from this long trip to South Africa, we will have the opportunity to talk about it again in January. The French team which has the same opponents as us (the Union Bordeaux-Bègles) but at a different pace is also a team in very good shape so I come back to the essential point: the slightest failure will be paid in cash, it's up to us to meet entrance presents.”
As a reminder, Toulouse residents will meet l’Ulsterthe English ofExeter (bottom of the Premiership, 1st English division), the South Africans HollywoodBets Sharkslast winners of the Challenge Cup, and the Leicester Tigers (3e de Premiership). L’ Union Bordeaux-Bègles is also part of the group, but will not be able to meet Toulouse before the final stages, since in the current format, clubs from the same championship cannot meet in the group stage.
