Three months after the final lost 59-3 against the same Toulousains, Union Bordeaux-Bègles won the first victory in its history on the pitch of Stade Toulousain this Sunday evening on the occasion of the 4th day of Top 14. Two tries from Bielle-Biarrey and Lucu in the first half and fierce defense until the end of the match resulted in the feat. Toulouse had been undefeated at home for 39 matches.
“Few teams win here, that’s not nothing”
Maxime Lucu, UBB scrum-half: “I had never won here. It’s an important passage in a season. Defensively we were in difficulty in the first three matches. We had to make the effort and blame Toulouse. We were sometimes on the verge of breaking up but we always made these efforts. We knew we would have weak moments but we held on. Few teams win here, that’s no small thing. You have to savor it. We have two receptions now and we have to get back to work on Saturday against Bayonne. We talked a lot after the final, we had to rebuild our confidence to be in the championship from the start. We showed our strength of character. All week, we knew that we were going to rotate, that we were going to trust an entire group. Even if some executives were not there, several players scored points this evening. »
Sipil Falatea, pilier de l’UBB : “Defense was what we targeted this week. We all went like dogs to block the attack on Toulouse. We managed to destabilize them at speed. We have desire. The season has only just begun and there is still a long way to go. We will celebrate humbly. We have confidence but it’s not because we won in Toulouse that we will win all the other matches. We didn’t think about the final, otherwise we would have been wrong about what to do. Above all, we worked to leave Toulouse with our heads held high. It’s true that we didn’t necessarily think we would win. »
“Those who are clever fall into the ravine”
Yannick Bru, UBB manager: “This victory pleases the whole group. We set off on a new adventure with new energy, new performance objectives. This is something that will matter to us. This victory should give us confidence in our rotation strategy. We have confidence in our workforce, in our solidarity. We knew we were going to suffer, that it could come down to money time. There are few referees who would have taken their responsibilities here in Toulouse and Tual Trainini did it. Bravo to him. We finished with power on the pitch because we know that this is where Toulouse crushes its opponents at the end of the match. It is our courage and our solidarity that allowed us to plug the gaps. The players can be proud of themselves, they ticked the boxes that we had defined, especially in defense. But we will not lack humility. We know that the Top 14 is terrible, those who are smart fall into the ravine, as my son would say. We remain students at the bottom of the class if we compare ourselves to Toulouse.
“Everyone saw us so strong”
Ugo Mola, manager of Stade Toulousain: “In the match, Bordeaux played hard. We lacked the ability to score. It’s difficult to win by scoring 12 points at home. We got into the match well. Afterwards we made mistakes and it disturbed us. But we didn’t score on our chances. We had nevertheless identified for some time that we were not doing very well despite the good results. It remains a match at the start of the season and we were not able to string together three positive actions. It’s only the 4th day. We will try to regenerate as best we can and prepare for Castres. Everyone saw us so strong, prancing in the lead. This will please a lot of people and I admit that I don’t mind it either. »
Emmanuel Meafou, 2nd row of Stade Toulousain: “It hit hard. They bothered us in the rucks. They foiled us. It was a very tough match physically, it went very quickly. Tonight we weren’t playing well. But there are thirty matches in a season. We already have to look forward to the Castres match next week. It doesn’t change anything for our season and our ambition to win the title. »
