Big slap in Paris La Défense Arena. But not the kind you can receive after an exceptional concert in this hall. No, the one received by Racing 92 on its lawn in a match supposed to bring it closer to the top of the Top 14 rugby table. But the reception at Castres turned into a disaster for the Racingmen.
Completely stifled by the Castres, the Ciel et Blanc never existed. After a quarter of an hour, they were very logically leading (0-15). And even (6-22) at the break. Just after the break, they conceded another try less than two minutes after the restart.
Annoyed, the Racingmen then returned slightly to the match. But without being able to take the defensive bonus point. They ultimately lost by seven points (20-27).
“It’s a big disappointment, we knew it was a pivotal match for us just before the break to get back into the lead,” comments Henry Chavancy, the Ile-de-France center. Unfortunately we take zero points so the qualifying places are moving away. »
Frédéric Michalak, the assistant coach of Racing 92, did not mince his words at the end of the match. “We are going to think about how to stay in the Top 14.” You have to be much better than that.'
-The next day, still on their lawn, they will have to recover against Vannes.
But they will have to be wary of this last team. Because the Bretons achieved one of the performances of the day by winning, in pouring rain, against Stade Français (33-28). However, the Parisians had thought the task was easy when Vannes found themselves in the 6th minute at 14 after Saili's nasty tackle on Leo Barré. Causing a concussion at the Parisian rear, forced to forfeit the French XV match next Saturday against Wales.
But Stade Français was never able to take advantage of this advantage to stem the Vannes attacks. Ten minutes from time, they themselves received a red card with the exclusion of Baptiste Pesenti. The only satisfaction was that a missed penalty by Vannes in added time allowed them to save the defensive bonus point.
“By taking only one point, we know that now we are going to have a difficult end to the season to manage with the bottom championship,” breathes Laurent Labit, the Parisian coach. There is work going on in our heads to prepare to switch to a mode that was necessarily not the one that was planned. »
