The Toulon Rugby Club is a club which, in its history, has always been attracted from outside. By what was happening outside the borders of France. When it was rare to see a foreign player arrive on French soil, the RCT opened its arms to Eric Melville, who over the years became a true red and black legend.
When exhibition matches often pitted Toulouse against Gaillac or Auch, the RCT went to Cuba, Saint-Martin or Canada in the mid-90s. And when, in 2015 and 2016, Mourad Boudjellal invited the Sharks of Durban to play two oppositions against Mayol, the whole of rugby Europe was wondering what fly could have bitten the Toulon president.
But yet, despite this desire to export, or in any case to open up to others, never in its history has the RCT played the slightest official meeting on a continent other than Europe. So this afternoon (4:15 p.m. in France, 5:15 p.m. in Port Elizabeth), when Dan Biggar or Manie Libbok kick off Stormers – Toulon, the RCT will not only launch its 2024-2025 Champions Cup campaign: it will write a amazing piece of its history.
“We will be alone against everyone”
“Toulon is known throughout the world, thanks to what our elders have achieved. And I'm not just talking about the titles won ten years ago, eh! So coming here, in this country, which has such a marked history and striking, it is more than symbolic for us, Pierre Mignoni, the RCT rugby director, told us yesterday. Having the privilege of seeing our club go abroad gives us real motivation: to show the best possible image of Toulon throughout the world. I'm talking about winning, but also about showing what we are. We want to prove our worth as Toulonnais.”
Except that if they spent a studious week, and attested to the human value of this group, in particular by going to meet children from the township of Zwide (our editions from yesterday)Pierre Mignoni's players have understood that they will only carry the lily of the valley high by concluding this South African week with what matters most to them: a great performance on the field.
“We have to be proud to wear this jersey and these colors in this beautiful country. It must be part of the history of this group. We talk a lot about solidarity between us. And that's good: tomorrow [aujourd’hui]we will be alone against everyone, in a stadium and a country which will be for our opponent. It’s an opportunity to show what we are, what we want to be. We have to export and prove what Toulon is.”
