Toulouse (AFP)
Toulouse, leader of the Top 14 spared so far by the Covid-19, starts a new championship without its French internationals against Lyon on Saturday (3.35 p.m.), during a 6th day marked by the derby between the Stade Français and Racing 92 , beaten in the European Cup final.
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Toulouse, place for young people
Things are sometimes well done: the schedule for the start of the season at Stade Toulousain (Clermont, La Rochelle, Ulster and Exeter in the European Cup, Toulon, Racing, Brive) was far more difficult than the one proposed ( Lyon at home, Stade Français, Castres, Pau, Agen, Bayonne) during the extended international window.
And as the last champion of France has garnered enough victories - 4 in 5 days - against most of his rivals for the title, he sees the period of doubloons coming serenely, even deprived of 7 players selected by the XV of France ( Baille, J. Marchand, F. Cros, Dupont, Ntamack holders Saturday against Wales, Ramos replacing, Mauvaka reservist) and with a fairly busy infirmary.
Used to doing without his best elements, manager Ugo Mola knows moreover that he will find them after 3 matches played with the Blues, in accordance with the agreement between the Federation and the League.
And that he should keep his X-factor Cheslin Kolbe, whose start with the Springboks was canceled, the world champions giving up the Rugby Championship for lack of adequate preparation.
But by integrating a few young people without much experience at this level, the Toulousains will have a double challenge against the Lyon outsider, 2nd in the previous year at the time of the final interruption of the season.
Badly started after 2 initial setbacks, Pierre Mignoni's men have recovered by outclassing Bordeaux-Bègles (27-10) and Bayonne (62-10).
Fijian winger Josua Tuisova, author of 5 tries in as many matches including a hat-trick against the Basques, will be the finisher to be padlocked for the Toulouse.
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Racing and Toulon, turn the page
Toulon will open the day against Castres on Friday (8:45 p.m.) with the simple objective of turning the page of the European Challenge final lost the previous weekend to Bristol (32-19).
A disappointment which "necessarily remains in the back of his mind," admitted Patrice Collazo, for whom this postponed final was "a bonus from last season".
"The 2020-21 season continues and it even starts this weekend," hopes the manager.
Same speech on the side of Racing 92, beaten by nothing by Exeter (31-27) in the final of the European Cup.
"It's like when you fall from your horse, you have to get back on the horse quickly," Laurent Travers repeated Thursday.
But unlike Toulon, opposed to a Castres Olympique still weakened by the Covid-19 which affected the majority of its workforce, the Hauts-de-Seine club will pass without transition a test at its neighbor, the Stade Français.
"The derby is always the derby", relativized Travers, "and if we had won (the European Cup), there would have been the derby also behind".
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Agen under pressure
In a ranking made illegible by the reports linked to Covid-19 - only 5 of the 14 clubs were able to play all their matches - three clubs can try to keep up with the pace imposed by Toulouse (18 points): Pau (3rd, 14 units) and Clermont (4th, 13), who compete in Auvergne, and La Rochelle (2nd, 14), which receives Bègles-Bordeaux on Sunday (9:05 pm).
At the bottom of the table, only one thing is clear: the last one, Agen, is the only club without a win despite 5 games played.
Faced with a rival for maintenance, Bayonne, the SUA must absolutely unlock its counter on Saturday or face a difficult season.
The Basque club understood the challenge of pushing this opponent down, skipping his trip to Lyon where he conceded ten tries.
© 2020 AFP