Stade Toulousain’s Determination to Mark History in the Top 14

After their elimination in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, Stade Toulousain only has the Top 14 to play for. If Stade Rochelais can aim for the Champions Cup-Top 14 double, Toulouse can finish the season, once again, without a title. And despite the very high level of this team from the Ville Rose, one could almost estimate that a season without a title would be a wasted season.

“There is the desire to mark the history of the club”

This observation is in any case that drawn up by Romain Ntamack in La Dépêche. The fly-half made it clear that ending up dropping Brennus’ shield would be a big disappointment for the club.

It would inevitably be a failure, but not a halt. We have already had the failure of the European Cup this season. We are keen to finish it well and we will give ourselves the means to do so. (…) There is the desire to mark the history of the club, of our team, of our generation. The desire to play at our best level, to please the people who follow us and to please ourselves too. If we manage to have all the ingredients in our favour, we can do beautiful things, as we have already done. With the ingredients in our favour, we can do beautiful things, as we have already done.

For this season, there is in any case something that works in favor of the Rouge et Noir compared to last season: physical freshness. Ugo Mola’s men benefited from more rest time, and with a faster qualification for the final stages, for the semi-finals even. And Romain Ntamack knows that this can be an advantage.

We were able to regenerate a little more physically and mentally than last year, when we had everything chained while not yet being sure of being qualified. It was complicated to manage mentally. This year, we were able to quickly qualify directly for the semi-finals. The workforce also turned well throughout the year. We will see in the semi-finals if all our efforts have paid off.