Being in the six and beyond, anything is possible. If the formula, rehashed throughout the seasons, really has meaning, then Racing can rejoice when it comes time to challenge Bordeaux-Bègles in its lair of Chaban-Delmas this Sunday, June 16 (9:05 p.m.). The defensive bonus point snatched last week in La Rochelle, two minutes from the end, allowed the Ile-de-France club to qualify at the last minute for the final phase. He thus avoided the small humiliation that would have been the first elimination in the regular phase since his rise to the elite in 2009.
The first season of English manager Stuart Lancaster is thus already partly saved. There remains a serious question mark. What is this team really capable of which has not shown much since the start of the year? A team also deprived of one of its most serious assets, Nolann Le Garrec, who had surgery last Tuesday on his left shoulder.
Siya Kolisi, a world champion finally up to the task?
“In Bordeaux, it will no longer have anything to do with it,” insists Stuart Lancaster. There will be no question of calculation. Either we win or we go out. We know that UBB has great players, we know that they are physically strong. In addition, the semi-finals will be played in Bordeaux (June 22 and 23). »
The Ile-de-France coach believes that his partner Clovis Le Bail – Antoine Gibert will be up to the challenge. Opposite, Bordeaux-Bègles will be deprived in this sector of fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, forced to end his season due to a hamstring injury contracted last week against Oyonnax. Draw on that front? No doubt, but elsewhere the balance is seriously tilted in favor of the Girondins. Damian Penaud, Nicolas Depoortère, Maxime Lucu, and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, called to come on in the second half, constitute a three-quarter line with the flavor of the XV of France.
Gaël Fickou and Cameron Woki, the Racing Tricolores, will have to rise to the occasion. Like Siya Kolisi, the double South African world champion, too discreet on the pitch since his arrival at Ciel et Blanc. “Bordeaux have a very good attacking line but our defense has improved a lot in recent weeks,” underlines Welsh second line Will Rowlands. However, it will take a little more than good defense, knowing how to take the game into your own hands for example to hope to pass and face Stade Français in the semi-final next Saturday, for a tasty derby, a stone’s throw away, at Matmut Atlantic.
The teams
Bordeaux-Bègles: Buros – Penaud, Deportere, Moefana, Tambwe – (o) M. Garcia, (m) Lucu (cap.) – Diaby, Tatafu, Vergnes – Coleman, Cazeaux – Tameifuna, Lamothe, Poirot. Entr. : Bru.
Racing 92 : Tedder – Tuisova, Fickou, Chavancy (cap.), Habosi – (o) Gibert, (m) Le Bail – Kolisi, J. Joseph, Diallo – Rowlands, Woki – Nyakane, Chat, Kolingar. Entr. : Lancaster.