Top 14. Report – In Bayonne, before the reception in Toulouse, silence reigns

It's not yet ten o'clock this Wednesday at Jean Dauger. The two club stewards set up the shields on a still empty lawn. Philippe Tayeb paces on the sidelines, welcomes the players who arrive on the field, whispers a word in the ear of Sireli Maqala and goes to greet the few supporters present in the stands. In four days, they will be packed to welcome the reigning French champion.

The reception at the Stade Toulouse is an anticipated event, a time of year when tickets sell like hotcakes, even though Antoine Dupont and the other French internationals have not set foot on Jean Dauger's pitch since December 2020. Bayonne generally benefits from greater exposure before the arrival of Toulouse, and internally, we know that requests are skyrocketing. However, this week, the sky and white club decided to wall itself in silence, and to reduce its communication as much as possible. Apart from the press point imposed by the League, no one will speak before Toulouse, the players being “focus” on the next match, we were informed.

Communication minimale

On the banks of Nive, after a mixed start to the season, However, the results are good for a month. Rowing took a defensive bonus in Bordeaux, before correcting La Rochelle, Racing and Lyon, so that at the dawn of the international break, the sky and white are third. You will agree that we have experienced more anxiety as a period. But the revelation ofa possible arrival of Laurent Travers as sports director made waves and placed the club chaired by Philippe Tayeb in the spotlight. Since then, with big press releases or denials in Hauts-de-Seine and the Basque Country, we have tried to restore calm from a non-sporting point of view. Until when?
On the pitch, the players ignore what's going on behind the scenes, or at least they try. “At the club, everyone only talks about that”, we were whispered seven days ago, but the resounding victory in Lyon and the imminent reception of Toulouse have, it seems, relegated the “Cross folder” in the background of discussions, among the supporters. We were able to see this this morning, where the “Wet Feet” especially wondered who, Joshua Brennan or Paul Costes, had the best chance of being released by Fabien Galthié.

Towards a return of the captains

While the loyal Rowing supporters remade the world, below, Nick Abendanon and Ged Fraser worked, on one side, with three-quarters, on half-court. The former ASM player did not spare his voice: “3, 2, 1: game”. In the in-goal, the forwards carried out a series of scrums or mauls. For today's session, the Aviron Bayonnais staff had, moreover, called on Adrien Marbot. Before going to Auvergne, where he will referee the match between ASM and UBB on Saturday, the Tyrossais gave his valuable advice and led the collective session at the end of the morning.

Without much surprise, Grégory Patat seems set to challenge Toulouse with many of his executives, left to rest in Lyon: Facundo Bosch, Baptiste Chouzenoux, Giovanni Habel Kuffner or Sireli Maqala. Arthur Iturria, substitute at Lyon, spent almost the entire session with the probable starters, alongside Alex Moon in the cage. Will the Englishman start a second match at Jean Dauger? He sometimes exchanged his chasuble with Lucas Paulos, while Uzair Cassiem, Swan Cormenier and Luke Tagi were the other members of the pack with the potential starters. The “yellow” team was, for its part, made up of several hopefuls or boys with less playing time.
If Friday's session will allow us to see things more clearly, the morning training allowed us to observe, at the back of the field, the same triangle of backs as against Lyon. It must be said that at Gerland, Orabé, Spring and Mousques were very good. This Wednesday, Sireli Maqala and Manu Tuilagi played side by side, while Maxime Machenaud and Camille Lopez formed the hinge. It remains to be seen whether Patat will favor this option, over the youth of Germain and Segonds, on Sunday evening. It sometimes happens that the Gers technician leaves doubts about certain choices in the middle of the week.