Gaël Fickou, head lowered, gaze fixed on his flip-flops and the tiles of Jean-Bouin’s press room, waits for his coach Patrice Collazo to finish with his media obligations before, in turn, settling down in front of the microphones. The experienced three-quarter center of Racing 92 and the Blues knows very well what question he will be greeted with: how does he and the Racingmen, best in the game, in the lead with seven points and possession a few seconds from the end of the 80 regulation minutes, feel after having found the way to get out of this derby with a draw (20-20) which could not be more frustrating?
“We are simply disappointed,” says the three-quarterback, author of the try which allowed us to take the lead in the 58th minute. We have to win this match, and it gets away from us in the end. » These few moments in the 80th minute, both crazy and clumsy, where Stade Français saw the light and a final possibility of avoiding defeat.
“We knew there would still be an opportunity”
Several seconds earlier, a Parisian offensive within 22 meters of the Hauts-de-Seine club resulted in a new penalty conceded to the Racingmen, despite being outnumbered after Manu’s yellow card, after an impressive scratch from the massive Josua Tuisova. The players of the capital, resigned, retreat with their heads down. “It was hard, but we knew there would still be an opportunity,” says Stade Français opener Louis Carbonel.
The Racingmen go into touch, are blocked, but send the ball carrier from Stade Français, Thibaud Motassi, into touch again. The deal is simple: you have to ensure the throw, then send the ball out of the field so that the referee whistles the end of the match and offers the derby to Racing 92. New attempt? New against Parisian. Léo Carbonneau nevertheless lies down on the ball, but a powerful Parisian counter-ruck gives possession back to the capital’s players. Jean-Bouin wakes up and sees the reversal of the situation, or at least a thrilling end to the match.
“We have these two touches that we must master and exit cleanly because the match is won at that moment,” complains Fickou. “We just have to manage, but unfortunately things are not going our way,” adds its captain, Romain Taofifenua. “We can turn the thing in any direction, they are playing their all at that moment, it’s poker… It didn’t happen there,” says their manager Patrice Collazo, more eager to dwell on the rest of his team’s match than on these extremely poorly controlled seconds.
But let’s get back to this crazy conclusion and these stoppages in play. Stade Français benefits from a first penalty about forty meters from the poles but decides to go into touch. Same scene a few moments later, with a new throw from five meters chosen rather than going for three potential points.
“The mindset of the staff was more about taking the penalty to leave with the defensive bonus,” admits Ian Vass, Parisian coach in charge of skills. The captain said: I want a draw, we will take both points (in the ranking). It shows the character of this team. »
The ending is known. Sekou Macalou miraculously wins in the air on the last touch, the game continues and Georgian pillar Giorgi Melikidze breaks through the middle of three defenders to flatten at the foot of the left post. After 5 minutes of added time. Carbonel finishes the job on foot. Jean-Bouin screams with joy.
“The end of the match was positive, we didn’t give up,” said the opener. However, we felt that several times it was going against us, but we threw ourselves like death from starvation at the ball. » And in the end, it results in a bitter and unexpected draw for Christmas.
