While the siren had sounded, the score was sealed (39-19) and even a try from the end of the world would have changed nothing in the fate of the match (the bonus could no longer leave the harbor and Rowing could no longer hang on to the defensive), the Toulonnais continued to play ball. Yours and mine, one double, two crosses, Jules Danglot's teammates sailed in their 22 meters. To give yourself a final boost and make Mayol roar one last time?
Not to the taste of reasonable Esteban Abadie, who preferred to put a saton in the ball, while the clock showed 80 minutes and 48 seconds. “You are in your 22 meters, you have the bonus in your pocket, you have nothing to gain except an injury or to leave some juice before a block of 12 matchesthe preventer of going in circles justified himself. So three-quarters will be screaming, but for me, it was no longer the time to play. Especially since we did it for 80 minutes.”
“We had to take risks”
So reason ended up taking precedence over fun. But between you and us, none of his teammates held it against him. Because Abadie was right: yesterday, Toulon played. And had fun. A lot of fun, even. Offshore play, standing play, interval shots, offloads, duels won upwind and offshore, Toulon achieved its performance “the most accomplished of the season” according to Gaël Dréan. “We didn't invent anything, but we wanted to play a little more upright, to put more continuity in our gamedetailed Esteban Abadie. Until now we recited a little too much, even though we have a talented group. We had to take risks and that was the case against Bayonne.”
So yesterday, everything was not perfect, and Pierre Mignoni even feared that the “old demons” did not catch up with his group when the last quarter of an hour of the first act allowed the Basques to recover from 17-0 to 17-13. “Of course I was scared! When you no longer find the keys, when you make mistakes, you fall back into your faults, you are less sparkling, you have less depth and you become average again, or even very average.”
But these doubts were quickly swept away, and an interception from Mathieu Smaïli (46e24-16) coupled with a determination to move forward as a team ended up getting the better of a completely overwhelmed Aviron Bayonnais. The four consecutive victories on which the Basques remained before setting foot in Mayol? Stored in the back of a cupboard by an RCT who wanted to have fun. As was the case during the first half against Lyon or during the last 20 minutes against Vannes. The difference is that this time it lasted 80 minutes.
“Find how to unleash these talents”
“Our offensive game was criticized because the talent was not released, recognized Pierre Mignoni when discussing the sudden change in philosophy of his group. So we coaches had to figure out how to unleash these talents. And give them courage… The courage to try difficult moves, to gain space, to play standing up, to take risks.” So, Jérémy Sinzelle was not afraid to skip his passes to touch the wings. Mathieu Smaïli and Enzo Hervé did not hesitate to alternate with the foot and the hand to turn the head of the Bayonne defense. The forwards navigated between direct rugby and behind-the-back passes to make themselves unreadable. And Gaël Dréan, finally, dynamited the Basque defense. One, two, three tries. Untouchable, the Breton was finally able to showcase his qualities of speed and explosiveness, which he had left at Campus since the start of the season. So this is what freeing talent is? In any case, if they will not hesitate to return to this less controlled quarter of an hour at the end of the first period, the Toulonnais will above all be able to evoke the good running angles, the spaces created, the calls behind the back as well as wide , the work without a ball and the pint of pleasure that they shared during this victory which will be a landmark for an RCT which seems (finally) to have found the right fuel.
It cut the legs of Bayonnais who had returned to a point (17-16) as much as it freed fifteen Toulonnais who seemed to be falling into the whirlwind of doubts since the end of the first act. This is the interception of Mathieu Smaïli, on a jump pass as audacious as it is naive from Joris Segonds. 40 meters and a solo race later, the Toulon center finished under the poles, blew up Mayol and offered a breath of fresh air to his teammates who, in the 46the minute, fell to +8 (24-16). “The interception puts our heads under water, twisted his nose Baptiste Chouzenoux, the third row of Rowing Bayonnais. Because we came back, we hung on, but after this try, we were no longer able to hold the ball.”
“It made them dive”
Same story for the Basque coach, Grégory Patat. “It's simple, the match ends in the 46th minute. We wanted to come back from the locker room, but in the end Toulon controlled the collisions and showed an intensity greater than ours. After this try, we lost track of the match, and we no longer existed.” While they feared seeing the Rowing players pick up and having to scrap until the last second as they have done too often this season, the Toulonnais finally saw the match change after this poker move of a Mathieu Smaïli cut it yesterday afternoon. “To free the testons, she sure did good,” smiled Pierre Mignoni. For Esteban Abadie to resume: “It gave us confidence and it made them dive. After that, Bayonne didn't offer much.”
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