The two leaders of the championship meet in Valona for a first summit this season, this Sunday 15 September (21:05) in the 2nd day of the Top 14. It promises to be hot, with each camp not hesitating to blow on the embers. of an increasingly exacerbated rivalry.
Although scheduled for the second day, we have to believe that the reunion between Toulouse and Rochelais, inseparable rivals in recent seasons, was not early enough.
Because as soon as their match was over (and won) last Sunday, Ugo Mola and Ronan O'Gara were quick to put a coin back into the machine with little phrases that went well, launching the match a week before sending him. A rivalry assumed by the two managers, which is having its effects but which we clearly take with more detachment in the “red-black” dressing room than in La Rochelle, where Romain Carmignani, the coach of the forwards, did not hesitate to say. on Friday that he didn't like it “when we are disrespected or taken for idiots.”
“Maybe at the end of their careers they'll find themselves on vacation”
“He can make us laugh every now and then,” Thomas Ramos smiled. After that, this is how it works, for sure, for both of us. Within the group, Ugo and I don't really talk about it either. But as they say, he who loves well punishes well.” And the back jokes: “Maybe at the end of their careers, they'll find each other on vacation and go away for a week together. They'll have something to say nice things about.”
If the current trend does not reverse, these “beautiful things” will mainly come from Toulouse, with Rochelais losing six of their final stage games against their arch-rivals. Which doesn't stop the Stadistes from being on guard when they take their first full-scale test after their Breton training. “He is the ideal opponent to know if we start the season well, judge Laurent Thuéry. The victory in Vannes will only be validated if we win at home, the moment will be a bit revealing.”
And if the defense coach intends to see his team “trying, despite the short time (preparation, ND), to give the best rugby possible,” he does not forget the main objective of the evening: “We are here to win this. A point more than the opposition will be enough for us to start with a home defeat would be a blemish and would force us to chase these points all year.
An intensity to control
To put all the odds on their side, the Toulouse will therefore have to rectify the situation in terms of discipline, aware that the fifteen whistles received at La Rabine will be fatal for them against a completely different maritime team. caliber. “These mistakes allow teams to come and play close to our line and therefore we expose ourselves to taking points, obviously we will have to correct that against a La Rochelle team that we know well, very well in 22 meters opponents and who likes this rugby It will take a lot of commitment to counter their power, but a controlled, controlled commitment within the rules.
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\u25aa\ufe0fHastoy in 15 \u303d\ufe0f#STSR | #Top14 | #SRFever— Stade Rochelais (@staderochelais) September 14, 2024
An intensity that the Rochelais, keen to first physically dominate their opponents in duels, have not always managed in tough games against their tormentors, who have collected six red cards in the last four years. Including two in June's semi-finals in Bordeaux, when they looked to have finally broken the glass ceiling. A goodwill that it seems they want to increase with a more ambitious game, including from their camp to create a little more uncertainty in the opposing defense. Enough to spice up the already spicy reunion a little more.