Top 14: Racing 92 hits hard in Toulon

Cheslin Kolbe has a lot of talent, but not yet the power to win his new team from the stands. Presented with great fanfare before the meeting, the South African winger, RC Toulon's flagship rookie during the offseason, currently unavailable due to a knee injury, did not bring luck for his first at the Mayol stadium. A week after whistles, which had accompanied the exit of the Rouge et Noir, victorious in the pain of Brive (13-9) and disappointing since the start of the season, the Racingmen inflicted, this Saturday, a new blow to the Toulonnais (20-27). This success, the fifth of the Ile-de-France after seven days, allows Laurent Travers' men to climb on the podium of the Top 14.

After an opening full of good intentions, but weighed down by a succession of technical faults - forwards and loss of ball on the sidelines - the Ciel et Blanc saw their territorial domination rewarded after twenty minutes of play. good sequence with Nolann Le Garrec, author of a clear foot, Yoan Tanga, served a few meters from the line, scored the first try of the meeting. Yet reduced to 14, after a fault by Gaël Fickou just before the end of the first act, his teammates continued their march forward and led by seven points before returning to the locker room.

Still as effective in the recovery, a week after a frustrating victory against Perpignan at home (17-14), Racing 92 took off before the hour mark, thanks to an offensive festival by Baptiste Chouzenoux and Kurtley Beale concluded by Ibrahim Diallo, already author of an essay the previous day.

"We showed an irreproachable state of mind"

Despite a significant delay on the scoreboard, the enterprising Toulonnais pushed at the very end of the game and gave the Racingmen a few cold sweats, with two tries by Brian Alainu'uese and Duncan Paia'aua. Insufficient for a team, eleventh in the standings, which has recorded a fourth defeat this season. “Racing was better today. It's hard to find grounds for satisfaction. We tried but, unfortunately, that was not enough, ”commented the Toulonnais, Raphaël Lakafia, after the match at the microphone of Canal +.

Opposite, Henry Chavancy and the Ciel et Blancs could smile: “I am proud of the state of mind that we have shown this evening.

We knew it was going to be an extremely difficult match against a team in doubt.

It was not all perfect.

We showed an irreproachable state of mind.

This is how we will manage to gain momentum ”.

To find, finally, a reference match.