The third row of Stade Toulouse, François Cros, was very proud of the season achieved by his team which ended with the conquest of a 23rd Brennus Shield, a few weeks after winning the Champions Cup. It’s the victory of a whole group for the French international.
Is it still magical to win this Shield of Brennus?
We never tire of these emotions and we are very proud to bring one more Shield to Toulouse.
Could you have imagined such a score in your wildest dreams?
No, it’s clear. We had prepared well for this meeting because we knew that this Bordeaux team had strong offensive intentions. We were especially keen not to repeat the same mistakes as last week because we finished the semi-final with, certainly a victory, but with mixed feelings and frustration. The objective was therefore to have no regrets and to check off all the sectors that we had seen during the week. We can be proud of what we did because we played a complete match and it’s great to achieve it in such a context, in this incredible stadium.
You almost feel embarrassed by the gap on the scoreboard…
We are not embarrassed. It is a source of pride. Afterwards, it is certainly difficult for the Bordeaux team. But it is a final and we are playing to win it. At the end of the match, even with the score acquired, we continued to have fun on the field, as illustrated by the last try. It is great to have a team that responds like that and to be able to offer such a match to our supporters.
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Four Brennus and two Champions Cups, the trophies have been piling up in recent years. Aren’t you satisfied?
We are very proud of it. It is another goal achieved. We have a young group that continues to evolve. We are proud to validate this year, but I hope that we will still have the chance to experience such moments. We must not trivialize it. It is too rare for that. Of course, it is the second double in three years but it is only the third for the club. It shows how difficult it is to achieve such a goal. The season was full of emotions and extended. We are very proud not to have done all this for nothing.
Doesn’t this season yet again mark a turning point with a Stade Toulouse team which has rotated its squad a lot?
We have an incredible group that allowed us to have comfort and freshness at the end of the season. When the internationals were not there, the youngsters did the job and they finished the doubles phase in first place in the championship while we were not before the Six Nations Tournament. This allowed us to gain time and give the senior players a breather at the end of the season. We may have had a little less of course the semi-final but the experience and confidence allowed us to win it. I don’t know if our victory in the final is mainly due to our physical freshness but it is part of the answer.
Stade Toulousain gives the impression of having further increased its lead over the other competitors.
I don’t know if we should go that far. But the good thing about this group is that every time we had the opportunity to win a title in the final, we did it. It’s a show of character. We have to cultivate that.
Do you think this domination can stop?
I don’t know. I don’t have the answer but I hope we never stop. We have an interesting pool with young people who have given us a lot this season. They’re going to take over in a few years so it’s important to have these guys in the locker room who have tasted these victories so they can pass that on to the locker room in a few years.
How is this double different from that of 2021?
It’s hard to answer because they are two completely different seasons. But we prepared better for the new format of the Champions Cup this season than last year, trying to make the best group stage to open the final table. We succeeded. We managed the end of the season less well in 2021 because we had less room to let the players breathe and it was much more trying. This season, the strength of the group allowed the staff to manage the squad as best as possible and this allowed us to arrive relatively fresh in this final.
