A gala match to conclude an extraordinary year 2024. Sunday December 29, at the end of the thirteenth day of Top 14, Stade Toulouse hosts Stade Français, for the “ clasico » of the French championship (at 9:05 p.m.). For the Rouge et Noir, it is a question of moving to the top of the championship ahead of Union Bordeaux-Bègles (UBB). For the Parisians, in bad shape, the objective is to avoid a rout against a team which dominates the national and continental events. This year 2024 will have been marked by a twenty-third French championship title and a sixth European star, three years after the double of 2021. On the banks of the Garonne, the exceptional becomes commonplace, for the club founded in 1907 .
To end this season in style, the team is aligning all its stars, a clever mix of local players and foreign recruits. At the end of the demonstration in the championship final, on June 28 against UBB (59-3), Toulouse coach Ugo Mola emphasized having “Using fifty-nine players this season, this is the basis of our success. » How to beat Toulouse? After this same final, Bordeaux manager Yannick Bru confessed: “ You have to be bold, try things… pray too.”
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Continuing the double, and after a suffocating Champions Cup final on May 25 against the Irish from Leinster (31-22 after extra time), Stade Toulouse began the season of the same caliber. Undefeated in the European Cup, they have the opportunity to take the lead in the championship, a habit for the teammates of Antoine Dupont, world rugby star – at XV as at VII.
Antoine Dupont panics with counters and statistics
At 28 years old, the Haut-Pyrenean scrum-half, who joined the club in 2017, is driving counters and statistics crazy. Voted best sevens rugby player in the world, three years after being crowned at XV, the Toulouse captain, during the summer, won an Olympic title in Paris 2024. Unique versatility in the world of rugby. The Rouge et Noir even posted 100% victories when he started this season – he was a substitute during their only defeat, at the end of March on the pitch at Bordeaux-Bègles. Antoine Dupont in 2024 means five trophies, seven individual distinctions, or even 16 tries, and 31 assists. “ There is this 10 or 15% extra that he gives to his partners, through the trust he inspires and which reflects on others” Ugo Mola said of him, during his return to competition on October 12.
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In his wake, the other key players of the team – Thomas Ramos, Romain Ntamack, François Cros – also form the backbone of the France team. A team of stars and friends, built around Dupont, and supplemented by foreign recruits. Like the Scottish international Blair Kinghorn, recruited in the fall of 2023 and became an indisputable starter after quickly finding his feet. A team, and a staff, built on solid foundations. Ugo Mola, who arrived in 2015, took over from Guy Novès, himself who had remained in charge of the club since 1993.
“A model to always redefine, complete, refine”
Since then, assuming the motto “ hand game, Toulouse game », the coach relies on other former members of the club: Jean Bouillou, Clément Poitrenaud, Virgile Lacombe and the New Zealander Jérome Kaino have all worn the red and black jersey. Same continuity and stability at the head of the club. Didier Lacroix, also a former player, became president in 2017, after 25 years of reign of René Bouscatel.
With the championship's first budget, around 46 million euros, the club put in place a unique and complex model. Around the Professional Sports Limited Company (SASP), which develops the professional aspect, the association Les Amis du Stade Toulousain owns the stadium and the Ernest-Wallon site, a rare specificity in the Top 14. The training center, created in 1988 and distinct from the first two structures, supports each year around thirty players between 17 and 22 years old towards a professional career.
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With this “ thirst for victories » et « a model to always redefine, complete, refine » Didier Lacroix will present the projects of the future at the start of 2025. Extension of the stadium, development of the “Stade Toulousain” brand, unprecedented organization of a day of matches with the Toulouse football club – facing Montpellier and its rugby and football teams – and of course the recruits and player movement section. In addition to Rochelais Teddy Thomas and Georges-Henri Colombe, who will join the club next season, other major recruits could be announced. On Sunday, the 33,000 spectators who will take their seats in the stands of the Stadium will come to accompany their players towards a new year that everyone hopes will once again be extraordinary.
