Top 14: Racing tames the Toulouse Stadium reserve

A false duplicate but not a false match. In an atmosphere of great evenings, this Sunday, Racing finally tamed the first of the class (27-18), the Toulouse Stadium which lost its throne to the benefit of Bordeaux-Bègles at the same time.

Under the roof of the Salle de la Défense, all that was missing was the stars. They stayed a little further south, in Marcoussis in Essonne, where the XV of France is preparing its autumn tour which begins next Saturday against Argentina at the Stade de France and will continue with the arrival of Georgia in Bordeaux. , on the 14th, and that of the All Blacks on the 20th in Saint-Denis. No Dupont, Ntamack, Marchand and eight of their Toulouse teammates. Eleven absent … Side sky and white, only Gaël Fickou is retained by the Blues. The duel may seem unbalanced but with Toulouse, master in the art of extracting an already very biting bottle-feeding class from its nursery, you have to be wary of scenarios written in advance.

Moreover, the public has given itself the word. He came in droves to see this watered-down poster. “You are 29,000! », Exclaims the announcer just before the entry of the artists in the middle of a sound and dazzling light which foreshadows the rugby-spectacle of the years to come. Thunder in the stands, and lightning on the lawn.

The prodigy Le Garrec turns the meeting upside down

It started at a hundred miles an hour indeed. With the Reds and Blacks at the helm to begin with. A concert made up of flights and changes of rhythm. Ugo Mola’s virtuosos recite a score rooted in their genes. They play. They run. They ignite this arena already dressed in Halloween colors under the “Toulousains! Toulousains! From their many supporters. It only takes eight minutes to get up from your seat. Alban Placines, the 3rd line and captain, pierces from his thirty meters, in force, perforates and catapults everything in front of him but does not forget to release his ball. The light cavalry put in gear and at the end, on the other side of the field, Arthur Bonneval scored a winger try. The tone is set. Racing suffered but rebelled. He reacted so well that Boris Palu found himself in turn under the posts after several reversals of play and showdowns (18th).

No time to catch your breath. The attacks follow one another, only stopped by some excess of zeal. Deprived of balloons, the Sky and White defend and they do it well. Even reduced to 14 ten minutes for a high tackle from Beale (31st), they resist and bide their time. She arrives just after the break. Maxime Médard and his family are less sharp and a kid steals the show. At nineteen, scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, a little prodigy with a great future, turns the meeting upside down on his own. Just after transforming a penalty of nearly fifty meters, he escapes open field behind a touch and mystifies everyone with a fake pass (20-13, 47th). Toulouse is KO, and will not recover. Racing could not afford another failure after its setback here last week against Montpellier (32-21).