Top 14 – Toulouse: challenge of pride before the derby against Castres

“Not twice like that.” This was the sentence dropped by Ugo Mola to his men after the last Top 14 semi-final, although victorious against La Rochelle, but not to his liking. A week later, Toulouse outclassed Union Bordeaux-Bègles in the final. It is this Gironde team which, on Sunday, handed the double reigning French champion its first defeat of the season and ended its series of thirty-eight games in a row without a loss at home. The stadium manager, aware even before this meeting that the rugby produced by his players was not successful despite the three inaugural victories, set the scene: “Many saw us as beautiful or unbeatable, prancing in the lead. We have fallen into line. This will please many people, and I won’t hide from you that I don’t dislike it either.” He inevitably found a lever to take his group out of its comfort zone, and use it as a catalyst for the future. The mark of great people is not to repeat the same mistakes. Touched in their pride and faced with their responsibilities, the Red and Black must respond. “What sucks is losing at homeadmitted Thomas Ramos. It’s annoying, everyone knows how important all the points are. We are not sending the message of a strong team for the matches to come. You will have to put the slider back as high as possible to achieve better performance.“Starting this Saturday, in Castres. “A lot more is going to happennote Mola. We are starting a new block, with four matches before our internationals leave us.”

“It’s up to us to rectify the situation”

In this case, the staff – faithful to its roadmap – should still take advantage of the short trip to Pierre-Fabre to rotate its workforce and maintain internal emulation, the one that has been driving this training for years. After the disappointment of the UBB, the opportunity is ideal – beyond the simple spirit of ultimate competitors of this generation – to also rely on this spring to take a step forward in the game and start again with a positive dynamic. Obviously on the condition of being present on the fundamentals, where the Toulouse residents will be expected, in particular on the ground game which was deficient on Sunday. “This should remind us that when we don’t put maximum intensity into the ruck phases, it becomes more difficultcontinues Ramos. It’s up to us to rectify the situation on this, and I want to say: what could be better than going to Castres for that…” It is at this price that the previous setback will remain a hitch and that the Stadistes, already winners twice away (at Vannes and Montpellier) will resume their march forward. As Emmanuel Meafou suggests: “The season is long and we can’t win every match. That shouldn’t change our goals. We want to win titles and we have to plan ahead.” Not forgetting, however.