We were expecting a first and we especially had a last: Gaël Fickou made his debut with Racing yesterday during a visit to his former club in Toulouse.
But it's another international, Yoann Huget (62 caps), whom everyone will talk about: the Toulouse winger, who plays his last weeks as a rugby player after announcing his retirement for the end of the season, came out in tears , hit in the Achilles tendon, applauded by the two teams and long supported and accompanied by his lifelong friend, Maxime Medard, another old man of the Rouge et Noir of the Stade Toulousain.
A nasty injury for the player, who may have played his last minutes on a rugby pitch last night, and a blow behind the head for a whole group, for whom Huget is a big brother, an executive and an important member of the cloakroom.
"Yoann's exit shook us quite a bit", recognized the Toulouse pillar Cyril Baille.
Racing does not win the matches that matter
With seven years younger, but already 63 selections in Blue, Gaël Fickou (27) still has his entire career ahead of him.
He decided to pursue it in Racing, with whom he made his debut last night, after half an hour of play, replacing an injured Dupichot.
Cutting edge during his hour spent in the field, decisive on his team's test, but lacking collective benchmarks, he had to convince a little more a Jacky Lorenzetti, spectator in the stands, who broke his piggy bank to buy back at the Stadium French the last months of the player's contract, like football clubs.
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On the ground, it is an understatement to say that Racing, which deplores many absent, has not found its cruising speed. Beaten in Toulouse, he saw the possibility of getting away from one of the first two places and a direct qualification in the semi-finals. Eight points behind La Rochelle, thirteen over Toulouse, five games from the end: the task is not insurmountable but still seems difficult.
Because there is one constant this season: Racing does not win the matches that matter. Already beaten in the quarter-finals of the European Cup two weeks ago in Bordeaux, he fell last night with a direct competitor. While they compete in the game, the Racingmen lack precision in key moments. And make mistakes that are costly: two yellow cards at the end of the first half, which saw them play at 13 almost ten minutes, and sealed their hopes of returning to the game. If the first yellow card, inflicted on Beale for a tackle without a ball in the in-goal, is understandable, that of Palu, the following minute for a dangerous charge on Medard, is more difficult to accept.
