the essential
The Gers winger scored, during extra time, Toulouse’s only try in the victorious Champions Cup final against Leinster (31-22), Saturday May 25. A deliverance, for him, for his partners and for an entire people, which he relives before planning for the future in the short and medium term.
Matthis Lebel’s evening could have ended in a much more gloomy way. But in the end it didn’t happen. The formidable winger, serial try scorer (6 in the Champions Cup) liberated an entire nation following a 40-meter run, in the 3rd minute of extra time in the hotly contested Champions Cup final against Leinster ( 31-22), Saturday May 25.
After a most accomplished collective sequence, Santiago Chocobares stares at his opponent before serving Lebel who, taking advantage of the gap and using his burst of speed, left his Irish counterpart on the floor and went to dive behind the line . “I think that if I didn’t manage to finish the shot, people would blame me. It’s not about scoring but more about rewarding the team, especially since it’s a collective effort that we had worked all week,” said the Samatanais after the match.
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“Time for the party!
The story fortunately ends well for him even though 15 minutes earlier he had forgotten to serve Roumat on a platter, playing it solo and putting one foot in touch. A sin of selfishness or a lack of logic after the riot of energy that this finale required.
We could lean towards the second solution as the international winger had engaged in obscure tasks throughout the match by making no less than 17 tackles (2nd Toulouse behind Jack Willis, 32).
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The post-match festivities were therefore well deserved for the number 11 of the “red and black” who was one of the captains of the evening. It started in the bowels of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before continuing on the plane and then until the early morning at Ernest-Wallon.
At his side as he left the locker room, Dorian Aldegheri announced: “Time to party.” Matthis Lebel was more measured in his remarks: “I think we will try to take advantage of this evening (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) to get together. And if we can, [on ira] walking around and seeing the people who support us throughout the season, I think that’s important.”
They were entitled to the ride. From Sunday morning some of the Stadists, including the former LSC, took place on the terrace of Chez Tonton, Place Saint-Pierre, before continuing the festivities to the balcony of the Capitol at the end of the afternoon.
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After a well-deserved celebration which should last until the start of the week, the players will nevertheless have to think about what comes next and get back to work. Because if they achieved their first objective of the season by winning the Champions Cup, they now have one month of competition left to bring a new Brennus shield to the Pink City.
“The competitive aspect will take over and we will quickly get back in working order and back to work,” warns the Gersois who is starting to dream of a new double after the one achieved in 2021. And Lebel goes even further: “We are already qualified in the first two of the Top 14, that’s a very good thing but I’m not sure we want to be seen as ‘pipes’ in the last two matches of the regular season. We will continue with this positive dynamic and try to maintain this confidence during the next two matches and then we will approach a new chapter of the final stages.”
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The Stadistes should return to training on Thursday or Friday before facing La Rochelle at the Stadium on Sunday (9:05 p.m.). And despite the qualification already acquired, the people of Toulouse know that we cannot sell off a match at the Stadium.
