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Racing 92: the reasons for the slack

2021-05-09T07:52:48.309Z


The Ile-de-France club, which is going through a bad period (four defeats in a row in the Top 14), must return to victory this Saturday against Clermont.


The alert rating not yet reached but it is fast approaching. Racing 92 has not won in the Top 14 since February 19. Since ? Four losses. In Toulon, Bayonne, Toulouse and, at home, against Stade Français Paris in the Ile-de-France derby. Add to the middle an elimination in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup against Bordeaux-Bègles and it looks like a black series (only one victory in the last six meetings, against Edinburgh in the European round of 16). “There was an air gap, that's the word. A hole in terms of results ”, summarizes Laurent Travers, the rugby director of Racing. Who hopes, finally, a jump this Saturday (2:45 p.m.) at the Arena for the arrival of Clermont, a direct opponent for the qualification for the final phase of the Top 14.

»READ ALSO - Racing 92: first for Fickou against Clermont

"I hope that the players will be vindictive," an upset Travers said Thursday at a press conference.

But we lost four matches.

We should have been revenge for a while… ”In the columns of Midi Olympique, the president of Ile-de-France, Jacky Lorenzetti, awaits a reaction.

“I put them collectively in front of their responsibilities.

I hope they said things to each other like big boys.

We will see against Clermont if the message is passed and what they are in the stomach. "

In the meantime, here are the reasons why Racing 92, which took place at the beginning of the year, suddenly found itself in the rough.

Morale at half mast

In mid-October, Racing again failed in its quest for a European crown. For the third time, the Ciel-et-Blancs lost in the final (of the 2019-2020 edition), beaten by the English of Exeter 31 to 27. The players had however managed to start again, swearing that the 2020-2021 edition would be the right one. Unfortunately for them, it ended in the semi-final with an elimination on the lawn of Bordeaux-Bègles, beaten by nothing once again (24-21). "We lose the European Cup final, we leave a lot of regrets but we manage to restart the machine," Laurent Travers told L'Equipe this week. It is rare that the backlash does not come, even late. Then we lost this quarter-final in the 82nd minute in Bordeaux. That's two blows for the guys. " “Rugby is an aggressive sport, like boxing.It's not easy to go back into battle when you've fallen twice. The unreached objectives put us a blow, developed the sporting director, Yannick Nyanga, still in the columns of the sporting daily newspaper.

Weight absences

Racing has not been spared from injuries.

He lost the discreet but precious Fabien Sanconnie, hit in the knee.

Then his emblematic captain Henry Chavancy, injured in the shoulder.

Season ended for these two executives.

Two heavy losses in the locker room and in the control of matches.

He also had to compose regularly without his internationals Le Roux (thigh), Vakatawa (knee, the latter no longer played), Chat (fracture of the tibia), or seasoned holders: Chouzenoux (concussion), Ben Arous (thumb) , Imhoff (thumb), Klemenczak (knee).

With the exception of Camille Chat, they are all back against Clermont this Saturday.

Executives in difficulty

The absence of Chavancy is so heavy that the staff asked him to stay with the team to provide advice and reassure the youngest. Bernard Le Roux was also asked to be more involved within the group. A reminder that should titillate the pride of the second-line. Another case, that of Finn Russell, capable of the best and the worst in the direction of the Ile-de-France game. And during the derby, it was the worst. Anything big. Which earned him a soufflon from Jacky Lorenzetti. “Last Saturday, for his return from suspension, Finn Russell was not Finn Russell. Let's face it, he was miserable. I am often the first to defend him, but he also has to take his responsibilities ”, supported the President of Racing in

L'Equipe.

.

Another concern, at the post of scrum half.

Maxime Machenaud and Teddy Iribaren turn, both incapable of achieving performances that would impose him as the indisputable holder.

These changes affect continuity and deprive the team of a helmsman.

Young people who are too isolated

It was an assumed choice. Launch talented young shoots to give them playing time and take them to a new level. But between absences and misforms, they were not sufficiently supported and supervised by the tauliers of the team. For sawtooth performance. This is the case, on the front line, for Kolingar, Baubigny and Colombe (who, proof of their potential, have all known their baptism in the French team), third-line Diallo and Jordan Joseph (a bit nonchalant, he is late to reveal himself, to explode), winger Donovan Taofifenua (declining after a thunderous debut), as well as young opener Antoine Gibert. The latter aligned the tenure, without disappointing. But to put so much responsibility on his shoulders alone was not doing him a favor. “We may have abused youth,confirmed the President of Racing in L'Equipe. We have undoubtedly asked too much, too much expected from the Kolingar, Baubigny, Diallo, Joseph, Colombe… These boys showed that they had the quality but that they were not yet ready to hold the team for months. We have undoubtedly neglected experience and maturity. ” 

Read also

  • Tops / Flops Racing-Stade Français: Paris can dream, Racing has sunk

Source: lefigaro

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