the essential
Quickly taking the lead over the Exeter team on Sunday during the second day of the Champions Cup, Stade Toulousain had plenty of time to trust its young players in the second half (21-64).
Will Stade Toulousain do better than 59? During a 2023/2024 season where he managed to sign a Champions Cup-Top 14 double, the Pink City club and its manager Ugo Mola used a total of 59 players. This Sunday, for his Champions Cup match in Exeter, the defending champion scored no less than 64 points at the end of a match where many young players could have been launched (Castro-Ferreira, Cramont, T. Ntamack, Brennan, Merkler…)
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Exeter-Stade Toulousain: “Dangerous and against the spirit of the game!” The cold anger of Antoine Dupont, several times the target of violent actions
“They have to gain experience” explained the Toulouse manager in a post-match press conference. “We realize that there is still a bit of work to do with the indiscipline of some. There are some for whom I will download the World Rugby application and the rules. Because being a top player level, it's also knowing the rules perfectly” Ugo Mola also joked to journalists.
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Exeter-Stade Toulousain: “sprain” for Antoine Dupont, “annoying” injury for Guillaume Cramont… Victory in England leaves its mark
“Kids constantly progressing”
Before mentioning the positive: “But I really liked the third line, surrounded by François (Cros), surrounded by Mathis (Castro-Ferreira) and Théo (Ntamack) even if, once again, there is some waste. But these are kids who are constantly progressing. They need to reach the high level, which others have done, even if unfortunately Guillaume Cramont was injured” notes Mola as one of the shadows. this Sunday.
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Exeter-Stade Toulousain: Toulouse, demon in Devon! How Antoine Dupont and the “red and black” applied the “Champions Cup tariff” to the English
After this well-managed Champions Cup parenthesis (two improved victories in two days), Stade Toulousain will return to the Top 14 championship next weekend with a trip to Lyon (Sunday 22, 9:05 p.m.). The opportunity for these same young people to get some playing time, before a hell of a Boxing Day (Stade Français on the 29th and Stade Rochelais on January 4). “Whether it's Guillaume, Josh (Brennan) or Joël (Merkler) now have a little more bottle. But we need to improve the skills of our young players anyway. And next weekend, they will go “Experience in Lyon and they will have to respond” launched Mola, already focused on the next deadlines of his group.
