the essential
If the Castres celebrated their victory against Toulouse this Saturday October 5 (28-23), they also made sure not to be carried away by the event, in order to keep their feet on the ground.
With all this crowd arriving at the Pierre-Fabre stadium on Saturday, all the Castres Olympique players were captivated by this fervor. The pillar Nicolas Corato confides that he “rarely experienced this” and “used it as a strength during the meeting”. And the outcome of the game was just as festive with this success against the Toulouse neighbor (28-23 ). “It obviously was, you know what it feels like to win a derby”, smiles opener Louis Le Brun, who will therefore not have paid his forwards any burgers as he announced on the microphone. from Canal +, but rather “a few glasses”.
But if the post-match was logically intoxicating – in every sense of the word –, Sunday will have mainly served to decompress, to rest, to put things in order. And to sober up from the event. Because a victory in such an anticipated match can have a downside. What the “blue and white” want to protect themselves from.
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ANALYSIS. Castres-Stade Toulousain: the CO finally pulled out its muscles! How the Tarnais overthrew the “red and black”
“We know very well that beating a big team can have a tendency to inflame a group, concedes Le Brun. We had to quickly move on to something else. On Monday, the words of the captain (Mathieu Babillot, Editor’s note) were aimed at calming, at encourage everyone to get back to work immediately because in the end, it’s a success like any other. It’s worth four points, we’re neither French nor European champions. .”
Make it like it’s 2023
The road is still long, and it promises to be just as steep on Saturday in Pau. “The Palois have already won twice with the offensive bonus. Therefore, we had to switch to deliver the best possible week of preparation,” underlines Tarn manager Jeremy Davidson. Good sign or not, after winning the derby at Pierre-Fabre, a month after his arrival on the CO bench in February 2023, the Irishman saw his team confirm the result by grabbing a first victory of the season at the away (at Montpellier: 28-19).
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REPLAY. Castres-Stade Toulousain: “Toulouse losing two games in a row is very rare!” The CO savors its new victory in the derby
The Tarnais also prefer not to necessarily take into account the praise given to them at the start of the season, and thus avoid seeing themselves as too good. Although, for their part, the group knew what they were capable of. “Often, no one expects much from us. When we manage to do good things, on the other hand, everyone talks about it. Afterwards, we were confident, we knew that we could do well in this championship. On the other hand, , we must continue”, hopes Le Brun.
Continue because despite this 3rd placee in the ranking, tied with Toulon and Toulouse, this status of 3e best attack after five days, the changes can be brutal. No position is fixed, and it is easier to slide down than to stay up.
