Here they are again. All. Finally. The internationals are back and Racing is breathing at the start of the final sprint. Eight days before the end of the regular phase, while he goes this Saturday (5 p.m.) to Castres, to a rival for qualification (the Tarnais are 5th with the same number of points as the Ile-de-France residents, 6th), the Hauts-de-Seine club regains its strength.
It was time. Because without its flagship players who left to compete in the Six Nations Tournament, Racing has fallen since the end of January from the leading position in the Top 14 which it occupied just before the start of the competition.
Nolann Le Garrec, new hero of the Blues, Gaël Fickou and Antoine Gibert join Cameron Woki who had already been sent back to the Ciel et Blanc by Fabien Galthié, the coach of the XV of France two weeks ago, just to regenerate.
Racing then saved the furniture by dominating another team in distress, Toulon (20-6), at Paris La Défense Arena, thus breaking a series of five defeats unprecedented since its rise to the Top 14 in 2009-2010. “We had to stop this spiral,” confided Laurent Travers, the president of the club. It was absolutely necessary for the players to regain a little confidence. »
The mission of Nolann Le Garrec and Gaël Fickou, in particular, will be to create a new dynamic and give Racing back the air of an outsider, for lack of anything better, for the moment.
The teams
Castres: Popelin – Nakosi, Seguret, Cocagi, Hulleu – (o) The Brown, (m) Arata – Crespigny Champion, Ardron, Babillot (cap.) – Staniforth, Nakarawa – Thomas, Zarantonello, Galisson. Entr. : Darricarre and Davidson.
Racing 92: Spring – Wade, Fickou (cap), Chavancy, Naituvi – (o) Gibert, (m) Le Garrec – Baudonne, Joseph, Diallo – Rowlands, Woki – Nyakane, Chat, Kolingar. Entr. : Lancaster.
