The anger of the Catalan fans hadn’t subsided after the announcement of the day and time (Sunday 22 May at 21) of the next match, decisive for USAP, against Castres. President François Rivière wanted to calm the situation by offering a total of 300 seats (including 128 for the Barretines). Three full buses will leave Perpignan this Sunday morning.
It had been the spark that had ignited the dust between the ranks of blood and gold. Since the announcement, following the decision by the encrypted channel Canal+ to schedule the Castres-USAP meeting, with all the risks it entails (or not keeping the Catalan club in the Top 14), on Sunday May 22 at 9 pm, social media turned on . Of course Jean-Marc Pastoret, the ardent president of the Barretines supporters’ club who usually doesn’t mince words, was one of the first to step forward. “It’s the worst that could happen to us thunder. We are totally frustrated. Those who work on Monday morning have retired, others have cancelled. Result: the two planned buses will not be filled…”. Other penyes also carried iron, of which Vincent Panabières, the counterpart of Jean-Marc Pastoret but for Trabucayres.
“We can’t ignore the sixteenth man!”
Faced with this growing discontent and to calm the situation, François Rivière, president of USAP, wanted to be understanding and decided to make a gesture in favor of the fans who had signed up for the bus trip. This Monday afternoon the press was summoned for a short interview in the “presidential office”. Jean-Marc Pastoret was also present. In the preamble, François Rivière insisted that the encrypted channel, “it helped French rugby a lot and USAP in particular.” Recall that broadcasts on Canal + bring the blood and gold club around 3 million euros, or about 15% of its budget. But he also insisted “USAP’s DNA”, stating that rugby”it is a territorial issue“. Again adding “When fans move en masse there’s a real recognition problem, it puts pressure. We can’t ignore the 16th man!”
François Rivière then officially announced it “300 seats in all have been offered to the penyes who will travel by bus to Castres next Sunday.“Of which 128 for the Barretines, the rest sent between Les Trabucayres, the Fardafets and the Arrels who have hired a common bus, which is now full. As for Jean-Marc Pastoret, finally reassured, he was delighted to have “managed to fill two buses of 65 seats each” and to have been able to negotiate with the municipality of Castres “a place to park buses and grill around 5pm“.
As tradition dictates, near Aimé-Giral or on the move.
