The history of Stade Toulousain with the European Cup is so long that a quarter-final could be confined to the ordinary. It is not so. Because playing a 17th quarter-final (18th qualifying in the finals because in the first edition, the qualifiers went directly to the semi-finals) is never neutral. And this new generation has a golden book to fill in this competition. She wrote her best pages during this season by winning her six group matches, which no other Stade Toulousain team had managed to achieve until then. Playing this quarter-final is therefore an exceptional performance in itself that other teams with the same ambition dream of achieving.
Free yourself from the context
For this meeting to become in every way exceptional, it must therefore be placed in the surrounding context. A first quarter-final under the Covid era. And inevitably, the data changes. Playing in an incandescent Stadium with 35,000 people is not the same as playing Ernest-Wallon in front of 5,000 spectators scattered around the stands. It doesn’t show up on the scoreboard but it’s not wrong to say that it can add up to a few more points. Especially since the Toulouse players have always testified to being transcended when they played at the Stadium.
Teleworking during confinement
In the field, it will be necessary to overcome the context. Forget that the Irish province arrives in Toulouse with two more matches in the legs including two in the final stages (semi-final of the Celtic League won against Edinburgh and final lost against Leinster). Also forget that the unfavorable statistics that Ulster only won an away quarter-final, and that was on Irish soil (on the Munster field, at Thomond Park).
It was during confinement that the Toulouse players began to prepare for this meeting without knowing the date of the match. Suffice to say that they have it in the head for a long time. The first two championship matches could be considered as two good repetitions if the team was able in one week of training to erase the weak points that appeared during these two meetings: general discipline, adaptation on the rucks (beware of Irish appear ahead in this area), lack of technical accuracy in attack). Covid era requires, the Stadium is moving forward with more uncertainties than certainty. But a European Cup quarter-final remains a European Cup quarter-final. And we know that he almost never makes a difference (only one lost in eight confrontations).
Bouilhou: “The preparation of the touch has changed”
> The Montalbanese experience
Party in Montauban, Jean Bouilhou was able to harden himself in Pro D2. What he remembers.
“It was my first real coaching experience. I touched on the more classic training. I did the job. I tasted recruitment, contract renewals. There is also an important role where you are a promoter of your own person. At Stade Toulousain, there are mainly leaders who come from the seraglio. In Montauban, there were people who came from outside. There was some effort to be made to explain what we were doing. “
> The forward / now key
Jean Bouilhou was one of the best touch takers when he was a player. He was cited for his science of the touch. What has changed between his not-so-distant past as a player and today his role as a coach?
“The players are bigger, it’s a real difference. It is not the touch in itself that changes, it is the way of making the touch, of preparing it. Time is counted during the training week. Everyone tries to train in high intensity so we have less time to do repetitions, to repeat the phases of conquest. It’s not like it used to be when we made and redone touches in a corner of the field. As time is short in the week, we must find solutions so that the players assimilate quickly. “
> The Arnold brothers association
So far, the Australian twins have not been lined up together. This will not yet be the case today but the Béarnais explains what their association can allow.
“Both players at the same time, it allows you to jump in all areas. The two can also be lifters to each other and since they are 2.10m this makes an impressive cumulative effect on height. Both players also have good strategic knowledge of the touchdown. In attack, their presence guarantees two important jump points and this opens up other possibilities for others. They can act as decoys. In defense, they are two real scarecrows. Opponents must find solutions to avoid them. “
> The European Cup
Triple European champion, the former third row is ideally placed to explain why “you have to raise your level of play in this competition. In the European Cup, there is a pronounced opening towards the game and it is not refereed like the Top 14. The actual playing time is much longer. The semi-final Edinburgh – Ulster was around 41 minutes and the final against Leinster, around 40 minutes. We must also prepare to play 150 rucks. “
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