This Saturday, Toulousains and Clermontois will face each other within the framework of the 25th day of Top 14. The Toulouse Stadium will want to validate its place in half, while Montferrand must fight for a place of play-off before aiming higher. These two teams know each other and often offer us great matches. Clermont-Toulouse was even the poster for the final of the French Championship in 2001, almost twenty years ago to the day. (Photo credit: Toulouse Stadium archives)
Favorite Montferrand?
In 2001 the French championship is still divided into two groups, Montferrand and Toulouse are both in the same group. In both matches, at home and away, ASM will win. This allows Tim Lane’s men to finish the regular season ahead of their group, just ahead of Stade Toulouse. The Jaunards defeated Agen in the quarter then Biarritz in the semi-final, while the Rouge et Noir of Guy Novès had to defeat the USAP then the Olympic Castres before reaching the final. Montferrand, already beaten twice in the final by Toulouse, in 1994 and 1999, can hope to take revenge after beating the Haut-Garonnais twice during the season. But on paper the Toulouse line-up is still scary and the experience of all these finals already won could weigh in the balance.
We find in this starting XV fifteen French players in the final of the French championship, it may seem incredible twenty years later. And among these players all have worn or will wear the jersey of the XV of France, which is to say the quality of this team. Quality is also found on the bench with Soulette, Belot, Dispagne, Lacroix, Cazalbou, Ougier or even Penaud. But Montferrand also has assets to assert and does not have to be ashamed when it comes time to appear on the lawn of the Stade de France.
The Montreux line-up is perhaps less scary than that of Toulouse, with a front five that does not know the international level. But this team remains attractive despite everything, especially thanks to its third row, its hinge, and its rear triangle. Before the meeting the players are presented to the President of the Republic at the time, Jacques Chirac. The latter will allow himself a small prognosis.
The head of state, supporter of CA Brive, does not predict the winner of the match but relies on a future very great career of Frédéric Michalak then aged 18. Evil tongues will say that he did not take any risk, in any case this final could already provide an element of the answer.
Toulouse pragmatism
The start of the match is to the advantage of the Jaunards, Merceron misses a drop after less than two minutes of play, and then misses a penalty obtained on a scrum a few seconds later. The Puy de Dôme players have returned to this meeting better. After ten minutes of play, Stade Toulouse is gradually entering its match as well. But the players are tense and a scuffle breaks out in the 22 meters Montferrandais. Mr. Borreani warns Califano who assaulted Barrier and tells him that he has burned his “joker”, at the next such mistake he will be excluded. The Clermontois do not take advantage of Toulouse’s mistakes, the Stade meanwhile is much more pragmatic and opens the scoring thanks to a drop from Delaigue in the 14th minute of play. Ten minutes later it is the young Michalak who punishes Montferrand again .
Despite his young age, Fred Michalak does not tremble from fifty meters. The experienced Yann Delaigue then passes his second drop of the game, five minutes later, the Rouge et Noir are teaching the Montferrandais a lesson in efficiency by leading 9-0.
The match gets carried away
After two failures at the foot, Merceron finally passes the first three points of his team at the half hour mark, after a Toulouse offside. The Montferrandais regain confidence and will pack this match. Marlu and Troncon will take initiatives that will finally pay off.
Jimmy Marlu initiates a raise for the ASM, he plays with the foot and fights with Clément Poitrenaud to recover the ball. The Toulouse center three-quarters voluntarily sends the ball out of bounds with his hand, and logically concedes a penalty. Italian international scrum-half Alessandro Troncon played fast for ASM, and sent Alexandre Audebert into the in-goal. Montferrand took the lead 10-9 with the transformation of Merceron, but Toulouse pushed to regain the advantage before half-time.
In a somewhat confused action, where the Toulousans are clumsy, Nicolas Jeanjean manages to shift Michel Marfaing in a corridor of one meter. Educators usually say to wingers: “aim for the sideline to score.” This is good, since in 2001 Marfaing was an educator at the Toulouse Stadium. But the former Narbonne finally made the choice to hook twice inside the last two Clermont defenders to go score. It also makes it easier for him to transform. Nearly twenty years later, he still remembers savoring in the in-goal after scoring this legendary try. Merceron adds a penalty just before the break, less damage for Montferrand who is behind 16-13.
“We’re going to piss off the whole second half”
Asked by Jean Abeilhou at the microphone of France 2 at the break, the test scorer Michel Marfaing warns: “There are only three points in advance, we will make a big effort at the start of the second half because we are going to shit all the second half”. The Rouge et Noir winger does not think so well put it and concretizes the effort of his teammates by two penalties in the 47th and then in the 53rd minute of play. Gérald Merceron, who had experienced three failures in the first period, finds the hair of the beast and responds to Marfaing with two new penalties. At the hour of play the score is 22-19 for Toulouse, this final remains undecided. Michalak then passes his second distant penalty of the evening and Yann Delaigue his third drop, a hat-trick in front of Aimé Jacquet, who appreciates. A new penalty from Merceron allows the Jaunards to continue to believe in it, the turning point of the match finally comes in the 70th minute of play.
Montferrand returned to six points from Toulouse, a penalty can allow the Jaunards to reinvest the opposing 22 meters and why not score a converted try to get back in front. But the Toulouse rear Nicolas Jeanjean made a superb rescue on the penaltouche and climbed a candle. At the fallout, Olivier Magne commits a forward, taken in front by his teammate Alexandre Audebert. The Stadium gets a penalty 45 meters from the poles, and Michalak succeeds in his 3/3 long distance. But he does not stop there, with 80 minutes of play in the legs, he passes a final penalty of 50 meters and definitively seals the fate of the match. Toulouse wins 34-22 and lifts the 16th Brennus shield in its history. Montferrandais and Toulouse will then meet twice in the Top 14 final in 2008 and 2019, two finals which will see the Rouge et Noir win each time.
For twenty years, Stade Toulouse and ASM have accustomed us to offering us great rugby matches, especially in the final of the French championship. The two teams will face off again on Saturday evening at 9:05 p.m. for Matchday 25. Both teams are once again in the race to win a Brennus this year. The Toulousains have in their sights a direct qualification in the semifinals, while the Montferrandais want above all to validate their place in the play-offs. The stake will be present, now place the game gentlemen!
