Friday night in Marseille, the experienced Toulouse players will meet the novices of UBB. A proper deflowering that Yannick Bru’s men do not intend to undergo, however, they who also know how to be sure of their strengths.
Especially since in terms of pure strength, the Girondins have a boy in their ranks who has it to spare. Him? It’s Tevita Tatatu.
XV of France. The player to fear on the Japanese side: Tevita Tatafu, this furious little bull
As a good number 8 of Tongan origin that he is, the 125kg helmeted player puts everyone on their butts, it’s true. But unlike many of his compatriots, the Japanese international does not just wait for the ball with his hands on his hips, before relying on his physical qualities.
Tatafu, cousin of his Bayonnais namesake whom the staff of the XV of France summoned to Marcoussis last week, is a real hub of the UBB. He tackles with all his might, moves around, scratches like a truffle dog and bounces on his opponents the majority of the time, doing everything with the same intensity.
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But obviously, it is the swelling in the hands that the old Suntory Sungoliath coffee table moves the most. Overpowering, massive, explosive and fair, Tatafu knows how to multiply charges that hurt. In the play-off against Racing 92, for example, he broke no less than 6 tackles, thanks in particular to well-felt starts behind his scrum.
So, will UBB’s recruitment masterstroke hurt Toulouse as much as the others? We remember that in March, the spearhead had made the Stadistes suffer martyrdom thanks to its overpowering charges, also putting the pruning shears Jack Willis on the buttocks with disconcerting ease.
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The one who replaced his brother Tom at UBB, in any case symbolises the extra thickness that the Bordeaux pack has taken this season. He whose regularity (22 starts in 26 matches in all competitions) impresses just as much. Can he still increase the cursor, to upset the predictions against a Toulouse ultra-favourite but deprived of its most beautiful physical beast? Answer Friday evening, in front of 67,000 people…
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