“A Farewell to Legends: Castres Olympique’s Emotional Final Match with Urdapilleta, Kockott and Combezou”

The book closes. This book is thick, heavy with memories, joys and sorrows. But it is above all heavy with history. From the recent history of Castres Olympique. Against Perpignan this Sunday evening (9:05 p.m.), beyond ending a 2022-2023 exercise which will have been trying, the Tarn club will lose three pens which have scratched pages and pages of this work of the last ten years. After the final siren of the season, Benjamin Urdapilleta, Rory Kockott and Thomas Combezou will greet the public at the Pierre-Fabre stadium one last time with the CO logo on their chest. Each in a different way.

Thomas Combezou will say goodbye to rugby, he who crossed almost anonymously this year after a damn knee injury in December, and will take the path of family breeding in his native Corrèze. Benjamin Urdapilleta will leave the Tarn for Auvergne, where he will end his career in Clermont. Rory Kockott, already retired last season despite four freelances made at the heart of the season, will give up his place as defense coach in the staff – to Steven Setephano, from Grenoble. “We are losing dinosaurs from the club, image Castres pillar Antoine Tichit. It’s the cycle of rugby… But their work, our transmission work, means that they can leave with the pride of accomplishment. »

“A big pinch in the heart for Zouzou”

Marcel Pagnol wrote: “He who is capable of feeling passion is that he can inspire it. These three have indeed felt the passion of the blue and white people. But they also stoked it. Each has their turn. Or all at the same time. First Rory Kockott, who arrived in 2011, and who carried the CO to their fourth French championship title in 2013. Then Thomas Combezou from 2014, an ardent defender and scorer of sometimes unexpected tries, mingling with the forwards or with those acrobatics of which he alone has the secret. Finally, since 2015, Benjamin Urdapilleta, a goldsmith of kicks who became best director in the Top 14 in activity last February (2,216 points).

Three players who won a French championship title in 2018. A coronation that will remain one of the best memories of these almost 10 years spent together at the club. “Raise the Brennus, it was a dream”, marvels an Urdapilleta who found in Castres another “family” to which he will remain deeply attached, he who however did not see himself finishing elsewhere – “But in professional rugby , we can’t control everything… I’ll finish with Christophe Urios, without whom I wouldn’t have known Castres. It’s also a great way to end my career. »

In a meeting without stakes this Sunday evening, even if there is a slim hope of hanging a folding seat for the Champions Cup, the group will find their motivation elsewhere. “We want to end well for us, the supporters, and for all those who leave, evokes the back Julien Dumora. Obviously, I have a special thought for Benja (Urdapilleta), Rory (Kockott), but also Zouzou (Combezou), who we don’t talk about much. It’s heartbreaking for me to see him go. They are an integral part of the CO adventure and have given everything for the club. »

The departure of three men who “characterize the values ​​of CO” judge Dumora, and who weigh on the group. Guys always there at the right time. Everyone will remember, among other things, the differences created with balls in hand by Kockott, Combezou’s ability to regulate the defensive line, the psychological influence of Urdapilleta on the team. “Benja, I knew him at Oyonnax, remembers Antoine Tichit, who shared 11 seasons with the Argentinian. He was already sweating victory, he was mad. In 2018, during the final stages of Top 14, when he put the ball on the tee to strike, we knew the result in advance. It was extraordinary. »

The future of the “magic table”

And although Antoine Tichit is not particularly worried about the hole that will have to be filled – “We have young people who are rising. It’s good that they rubbed shoulders with this kind of players! – there will undeniably be a void. Especially at the table, at Levézou. The “magic table” losing its last member: Benjamin Urdapilleta. “On Tuesdays, we eat together at Levézou. And since my arrival, I have the same table. At the time, it was called the magic table. There was Antoine Dupont, Afusipa Taumoepeau, Robert Ebersohn, Horacio Agulla and Florian Vialelle, ”says the Puma. “They all left but he kept his table and ate alone. He’s the last of the Mohicans,” smiles Dumora.

A survivor who swallowed his last meal there on Tuesday, not without a last memory. “We took a photo where I kiss the table, laughs Urdapilleta. I sent her to our magic table chat group. I did everything to preserve it for eight years, there, the table, it’s dead! I entrusted the rest to Geoff (Palis) and Dums (Dumora). I told them: ”Nobody sits here.” We’ll see…” “Inevitably, we will do everything to take someone’s picture in their place and send them to them”, laughs the back. But tonight, magic is not expected at the table. But to Pierre-Fabre. For a final page.