Well deserved vacation. Racing 92 reassured themselves in Castres on Saturday (27-0) after their defeat in the European Cup against the Saracens and will appreciate the ten-day cut imposed by the Six Nations Tournament. The men of Laurent Travers' coach enjoyed a good beer in the locker room of Castres.
Joy in the locker room @ racing92 after # COR92 🎉 # JourDeRugby pic.twitter.com/lZ5lL3kixX
- Canal Rugby Club (@CanalRugbyClub) January 25, 2020The rating: 9/10
It's the almost perfect match for the Ciel-et-Blancs who find themselves at the foot of the podium on equal points with La Rochelle (3rd) and therefore more than ever in the running for the race for the first six places for the final stages . This improved success (4 tries to zero), the 4th of the away season to which two defensive bonuses must be added, simply makes Racing the best formation of the Top 14 far from its bases.
The top: youth
Forced to do without its five internationals retained in the French team (Editor's note: Camille Chat, Bernard Le Roux, Boris Palu, Virimi Vakatawa and Teddy Thomas) , Racing was still far from presenting an experimental team. Nothing that the Machenaud-Russell hinge (38 and 47 international selections respectively) imposed.
But as he has been working on it since the start of the season, Laurent Travers does not hesitate to cut down the youth card. In the starting XV at Pierre-Fabre, we could note the presence of Klemenczak (23 years old), Sanconnie (24), Baubigny (21 years old), Kolingar (21) who perfectly launched the hostilities before being joined by Ibrahim Diallo (22) and Jordan Joseph (19), pure products of the Plessis training center.
The flop: the second period
The score acquired at the break (0-22) did not give rise to a second period equal to the first. Only Teddy Baubigny registered a test (67th) after the double from Dulin (8th and 33rd) and the test of captain Chavancy (21st).
The number: 9
It had been nine years since a team had managed to score a single point at home. On September 9, 2011, Clermont won at the Mayol stadium in Toulon (0-17).
The phrase
“In this time of year, it is a pivotal period, we gain nothing, but we can lose a lot. Henry Chavancy, center and captain of Racing 92.
The next match
Racing 92 - Toulouse stadium, Sunday February 26 at 4:50 p.m.
