Exit the Paris La Défense Arena, its rolling synthetic, its roof, its heat and its maddening effective playing time. Facing Racing, Toulon discovers a completely different setting this afternoon. The ultra-modern enclosure still retained by the dismantling of the Olympic swimming pool, the Mignoni gang faces the Ciel et Blanc in Créteil. If we usually see Sporting Toulon playing at the Dominique-Duvauchelle stadium, this time, it’s an oval ball that 30 hungry people will compete for.
And going from the Arena to Créteil, as the match approaches, that inevitably changes. “The Arena is a synthetic that goes very quickly. There is no wind since it is a closed room. All the conditions are there to produce beautiful rugby. There, we will arrive in Créteil, with the weather predicted to be really bad If it starts to rain as the weather forecast predicts, and what’s more it’s windy, well sorry for the public… but I don’t think it will be. still the best match to see”, warns amused Enzo Hervé, substitute flyhalf this afternoon.
And to detail: “Playing in a stadium like this, compared to the Arena, it will change a lot of things. The support is not the same. In the running game, but also for the occupation at the foot and, for us scorers, for all that concerns penalties.”
Capricious weather? No problem
In Créteil, the Toulonnais will play above all in a stadium where they have never set foot. The last time they did it? There is no doubt that no one has forgotten in the harbour. It was in Anoeta, in the heart of the Basque Country, opposite Aviron Bayonnais. Result? A sparkling victory (46-10) and an offensive bonus.
If for Pierre Mignoni, playing on a natural open-air lawn “doesn’t change much”he still remembers, when he was a player: “I found it rather exciting to play in a new stadium. It’s always refreshing. Plus, we’re going to Monsieur Bastareaud!” Born in Créteil on September 17, 1988, the RCT team manager was trained at Rugby Créteil-Choisy in Val-de-Marne. Certainly it will also have, for this special match, a particular importance.
In Duvauchelle, Toulon, 4e of the Top 14, will find an unstable Racing (10e), already obliged to impose itself in its transit stage. Under forecasted unpredictable weather. What should the people of Toulon be concerned about? Not really, they have become specialists in it. “If it rains, we will adapt to the conditions. We have already had to do that on our two outings, in Paris and Clermont”smiles, almost used to it, Pierre Mignoni. Precisely, during these two trips, Toulon brought back a victory from the capital and a defensive bonus point – oh so bitter – from Auvergne. And even if this unpleasant taste in the mouth seems swallowed, when crossing the Duvauchelle athletics track to enter the lawn, it will not be far away.
