The champion of France no longer responds. Beaten again this Saturday, on the lawn of Pau this time (27-22), the men of Ugo Mola conceded a 6th consecutive defeat in the Top 14, to which must be added a setback in the European Cup on the lawn Wasps and a defeat on green carpet in front of Cardiff! A new underperformance which demotes the Stadistes in 6th position.
“It’s a hard defeat to digest, recognized Jean Bouilhou, assistant coach of Toulouse. We had a first half with very little energy compared to the enthusiasm of Pau. The combat phases cost us dearly. Match facts bring us back into the game. It was a crazy game. We scored two tries quickly and then scrums, game facts accumulated and then the time passed. We have a match point but we don’t put it in the bottom. This is symptomatic of our lack of confidence at the moment. It’s complicated not to achieve these highlights. »
“We must seek revolt”
“It is obvious that we are worried, chained Jean Bouilhou. If we weren’t, we would be blind. We need this concern to help us progress, work, regain confidence and win matches. May it make us find solutions rather than bury us. We must seek revolt, now that’s enough. »
Disappointing overall, the Rouge et Noir came very close to an incredible comeback. During the first act, the people of Toulouse, deprived of their internationals who are competing in the Six Nations Tournament, break their teeth in front of the impenetrable Pau defense. A Pyrenean fortress which is, moreover, devilishly effective offensively. Steven Cummings and Tumua Manu pass the Toulouse in-goal twice, Antoine Hastoy sets the sights against the poles and here is the Section comfortably in the lead (17-3) despite the expulsion of this same Manu, guilty of a blow punches Alban Placines in a ruck.
Not enough to disturb the Palois who give more scope to their advantage as soon as they return from the locker room. Eliott Roudil breaks Thomas Ramos’ tackle before flattening in the in-goal. Hastoy continues his faultless foot and Pau leads at this moment by 24 points (27-3). Moment chosen by Jale Vatubua to literally freak out. The Fijian center three-quarter violently tackles the Argentinian Chocobares who will come out on a stretcher completely knocked out.
Pau reduced to 13 players
The Section finds itself quite logically reduced to 13 after this new disciplinary gap and will squander part of its lead in the space of a few minutes. In a very tense match, punctuated by several hiccups and a few blows exchanged, Dimitri Delibes ignored the context to score two tries before Matthis Lebel allowed Toulouse to come back to 5 small points (27-22).
In an unbreathable end to the match, the Palois have no choice but to unite in front of the Toulouse waves. The visitors are even very close to winning the bet in the 78th minute but the Pyrenean defense wants to be heroic. She will be until the end. Pau wins 27-22 and climbs to 8th place in the championship. For Toulouse, it will be necessary to wait until next weekend and the reception of Bordeaux-Bègles to, perhaps, put an end to this negative series, rather unusual on the banks of the Garonne.