The anger of Catalan supporters had not subsided after the announcement of the day and time (Sunday May 22 at 9 p.m.) of the next meeting, decisive for USAP, against Castres. President François Rivière wanted to calm the situation by offering a total of 300 places (including 128 for the Barretines). Three full buses will leave Perpignan this Sunday morning.
It was the spark that had ignited the powder among the blood and gold ranks. From the announcement, after the decision of the encrypted channel Canal + to schedule the Castres-USAP meeting, with all the stakes it entails (maintenance or not of the Catalan club in Top 14), Sunday May 22 at 9 p.m., social media ignited. Of course Jean-Marc Pastoret, the fiery president of the Barretines supporters club who usually does not mince his words, was one of the first to step up. “It’s the worst that could fall on us he thundered. We are totally frustrated. People who work on Monday mornings have withdrawn, others have canceled. Result: the two planned buses will not be filled…”. Other penyes also carried the iron, of which Vincent Panabières, the counterpart of Jean-Marc Pastoret but for Trabucayres.
“We can’t ignore the 16th man!”
Faced with this growing discontent and in order to calm the situation, François Rivière, the president of the USAP, wanted to be understanding and decided to make a gesture in favor of the supporters who had registered for the bus trip. This Monday afternoon the press was summoned for a brief interview in the “presidential office”. Jean-Marc Pastoret was also present. In the preamble, François Rivière insisted on the fact that the encrypted channel, “helped French rugby a lot and the USAP in particular”. As a reminder, broadcasts on Canal + bring the blood and gold club some 3 million euros, or about 15% of its budget. But he also insisted on “USAP’s DNA”, stating that rugby “is a territorial issue“. Still adding “When the supporters move en masse there is a real issue of recognition, it puts pressure. We can’t ignore the 16th man!”
François Rivière therefore officially announced that “300 places in all had been offered to the penyes who travel by bus next Sunday to Castres.“Including 128 for the Barretines, the rest dispatched between Les Trabucayres, the Fardafets and the Arrels who chartered a joint bus, which is now full. As for Jean-Marc Pastoret, finally reassured, he was delighted to have “managed to fill two buses with 65 seats each” and to have been able to negotiate with the municipality of Castres “a place to park the buses and grill around 5 p.m.“.
As tradition dictates, whether near Aimé-Giral or on the move.
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