A few hours before Christmas Eve, it is a certainty: Racingmen and Parisians are not going to give each other gifts during the Ile-de-France derby, this Saturday (3 p.m., Canal +) at Paris La Défense Arena.
They will even go directly to the log as the reunion promises to be warm.
The Stade Français Paris has indeed not digested the confrontations of last season.
To discover
Schedule and Top 14 results
Ranking Top 14
Four in total, two in the Top 14 and two in the Champions Cup.
For four identical results.
The Pink Soldiers were beaten at home (21-36), then humiliated in the Racing 92 show room (53-22).
Before losing again to Jean-Bouin (9-22).
Then to take one last in Nanterre (33-22).
For the trifle of 144 points conceded in four confrontations.
A dolphin spot at stake
If we add a defeat dating back to June 2021 (38-21), Gonzalo Quesada's men are surfing on a sparkling series of five losses against their hated neighbor.
What to approach this displacement all pride outside, the sharp motivation and, perhaps, with a bit of anguish too.
Read alsoTop 14: derbies before the Yule log
The message has been hammered home all week in the Parisian locker room.
The words "honor" and "shame" came up often.
And it is a Laurent Sempéré, coach in charge of the forwards (and former brave hooker of the SFP), tense jaw and verb without embellishment, who confided his feelings in front of the journalists.
“
This derby brings back all those bad memories.
These underperformances of last season, personally, I always have them in mind.
It's part of what motivated us at the start of the season.
We spent time on it.
Not so much on a sporting level as in terms of behavior.
Last season, they performed better than us.
It's up to us to raise our level to compete...
" And to add "
it's not a question of style
which suggests that it will be more about hormones and ferocious commitment than talent and one-step passes this Saturday afternoon under the artificial light of the Arena…
A player perhaps crystallizes the expectation more than others.
The Parisian second line Baptiste Pesenti.
A defector this summer from Racing 92 (where he was little used last season, only 7 tenures) at the Stade Français (where he has a string of match sheets, 11 in twelve days of Top 14), the former Palois is burning to finally compete his first derby, "
even more different because it takes place during the holiday season
".
Asked by Eurosport, he did not use metaphor.
“
I didn't have the chance to participate with Racing.
I have a lot to prove compared to last year where I didn't have as much playing time as I wanted, where I couldn't express myself.
Today, I feel fully capable of responding.
» In place for the distribution of chestnuts.
Read alsoTop 14: Gabrillagues extends at Stade Français
It must be said that this meeting, on this Christmas Eve, is enhanced by the good start to the seasons of the two Ile-de-France clubs.
This derby indeed pits the 2nd and 3rd, separated by three small points in the standings.
The winner will therefore be the dolphin of Stade Toulousain, right at the mid-championship.
If finding Racing 92 so high in the rankings is not a surprise, the presence of Stade Français Paris is more unexpected.
But it would seem that the announcement of the forced departure of manager Gonzalo Quesada at the end of the season (he will be replaced by Laurent Labit, the current attacking coach of the XV of France and former pair of Laurent Travers at the head of… Racing ) brought the team together.
Giving him extra soul to bid a worthy farewell to the Franco-Argentinian technician, craftsman of the last Brennus shield, in 2015.
But if Paris lives again, it is also thanks to a pack of new conquerors and solid.
Who could brutalize the one dressed in sky-and-white, reputed to be lighter, less beefy.
“
We are often not respected
, squeaked the pillar Cedate Gomes Sa.
I hear that the fronts of Racing are not strong.
And it stings us in our pride.
But this respect is up to us to get it on the pitch.
A goal shared by Stade Français and its new captain, Morgan Parra.