Depending on the turn of events, Castres Olympique could climb to the top step of the podium and take a big step towards qualifying for the finals against USAP. A mistake from the past makes him all the more vigilant to avoid immense disillusionment.
The Top 14 has not departed this season from a characteristic that has stuck with them in the leather of the oval for years: their outcome is uncertain both at the top and at the bottom of the classification until the last day of their phase. regular. The confrontation which is being played out on Sunday (kick-off at 9:05 p.m.) between Castres Olympique and USAP is a glaring example.
The first, current 3rd with 67 points, tied with Union Bordeaux-Bègles (2nd), seeks to be automatically qualified as the final stages approach. The second, clinging to 13th place (39 points) three short lengths behind Brive (12th), wants to try to win his retention in the elite before the last day to avoid a play-off against the Pro D2 finalist . In the Tarn, the breath could be held until the final whistle. Especially since the Castres bitterly remember a missed qualification at home against Toulon in 2018-2019, a year after their title of champion of France…
The CO undefeated and
quickly qualified?
Would Castres Olympique be afraid to thwart USAP? The watchword was not dispersed this week on the side of coach Pierre-Henry Broncan’s team. So much so that any request for an interview was refused. The only public speaking time granted to the blue and white squad was that of the pre-match press conference. Mark of feverishness or concentration? Answer this weekend… Because the CO has many objectives still to fulfill.
If there is one on the right track and which can know its outcome in a few days, it is that of invincibility at home. The men from Tarn had made it a point of honor. At present, they have made the Pierre-Fabre stadium an impregnable citadel by counting a single draw against the great rival of the moment Union Bègles-Bordeaux (23-23, editor’s note). But that’s not all in one season. Because weaned from the finals since 2018, the year he won his last Brennus, the CO intends, given the turn of his season, to taste again the fervor of the last battles to put his name on the planxot again.
A victory against USAP, in a match that would look like a quarter-final, could propel him directly into the play-offs or even into the semi-finals, and why not even on the top step of the podium. Because by way of comparison with the two teams with which he is trying to find a place in the sun, the calendar is somehow more favorable. Indeed, the UBB receives Lyon (5th, 63 points), and Montpellier welcomes Racing 92 (4th, 66 points). If a distance must be created between the members of the top three in the standings, the advantage goes to Castres Olympique. Clearly, his qualification could be quickly assured. But there is a fear for the flag team of the city nicknamed “the Little Venice of the Tarn.”
The trauma of 2019
As the former usapist pillar, Quentin Walcker, Castrais points out since this season: “A match remains a match and qualification can be missed. We must not see ourselves in a suit cut too big for us. We are not yet qualified in terms of accounts and we must not skip the stages.” The lesson was learned by the collective built on the ashes of a failed qualification in 2019. Castres Olympique, then reigning French champion, had been eliminated from the play-offs by finishing in 7th place. In question ? A home defeat against Toulon (16-25) which, for once, had nothing special to play. It was the first time that this happened under the mandate of Christophe Urios, then at the end of the contract. And, a victory over Montpellier (6th) against Clermont (28-27). While all the signals foreshadowed the opposite. Even a defensive bonus would have sufficed in those days.
However, the year before, it was by narrowly qualifying and winning a 6th place in the standings that Castres Olympique would finally experience the immense happiness of going to the end of the adventure and becoming champion of France. The trauma of the poor performance is therefore always present in people’s minds. As young scrum-half Jérémy Fernandez testifies: “We know that it’s in the DNA of the club to scuttle itself on its own like coming back from nowhere!” To see how the USAP will manage all this.
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