It was Pierre Mignoni himself who, on the evening of the sluggish but improved victory against Vannes (54-19), discreetly slipped the passing time that his group had set at the start of the season. “What we want is to see where we will be after 9 days.”
Understand: before the international break. And to continue: “It’s a big challenge because for a very long time, we haven’t seen Toulon make a good start to the season. For the moment, we’re in the lead.”
But in reality, with 14 points in four days, is the RCT having such a good start to the season?
No 0 points, a first since 2016
First remarkable fact: the RCT has not finished any match empty-handed since the start of the season (three victories, a defensive bonus snatched against the run of play in La Rochelle).
Points taken during each of the first four days? A feat that RCT had not achieved since 2016-2017. Better, over the last fifteen seasons, Toulon has managed to avoid zero points during the first four days on only three occasions: 2016-2017, 2013-2014 and 2012-2013.
Twice, the RCT ended up reaching the final (2013 and 2017) at the end of the season. The third, he simply won the Brennus.
Positive passage times for the qualifier, and even the top 2
Over the last ten seasons, the 6e place (qualifying) is played out on average at 66.5 points, the 4e (home play-off) at 71.5 points and 2e (direct semi-finalist) at 77.9 points. With 14 points taken in four days, the RCT therefore fulfilled the quota for the 6th by 21.05%.e place, at 19.58% the quota for 4e and at 17.97% that hoped for the 2e. Promising, knowing that only 15.38% of the 26 days were played.
In the game, the RCT must do better, but…
In the game, Toulon must do better. However, with 113 points scored, the Var attack has had its best start to the season since 2013-2014 (117).
In defense, over the last ten seasons, the RCT also achieved its 2e best start (76 points conceded) since only the 2023-2024 season (70) was more convincing.
In conclusion, there is no question of saying that Toulon has taken a step towards qualification, far from it. But racing in the lead should on the other hand allow Pierre Mignoni’s staff to manage their squad more easily, to better organize themselves for the Jiffs (17 expected on average this season) and above all not to have to chase time in end of season. Not a luxury.
The 14-point milestone
If the Toulonnais wish to wait for the 9e day to make an initial assessment, it remains difficult not to affirm that the RCT is ahead of its past passage times.
It’s simple: to see Toulon at 14 points or more after 4 days, you have to go back to 2012-2013 (see infographic).
But then, how many days did the RCT need to reach or exceed this milestone of 14 points in the past?
In 13-14, 14-15 and 17-18, the RCT needed five days. In 15-16, 16-17, 20-21, 22-23 and 23-24, Toulon needed 6 days.
Crazy? Yet better than in 20-21 where Toulon had waited for the 7the daytime. But the most notable seasons remain 18-19 and 21-22 where the RCT had waited for the 9e day to surpass the 14-point mark.