The question arose during the match: had a team already finished fanny in the semi-finals of the Top 14? And then, the late tries of Gaël Fickou (71st) and Ibrahim Diallo (76th), to save the trampled honor of the Racingmen, solved the problem. But not the brutal observation: the Ile-de-France were crushed by the Toulouse in San Sebastian (41-14). "We weren't invited. We lost everything, the collisions, the scrums, the launches, the touches... All. There is no photo," says the international center Gaël Fickou. Same observation of impotence for the Argentine winger Juan Imhoff: "When you are beaten in conquest, in the air and you can not hold the ball, it is complicated to win a semi-final ..."
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After having made illusion and held the shock for a quarter of an hour, the sky and white ship took on water, from all sides. Sterile movements, a violent scrum, fouls in spades and a glaring lack of efficiency, and worse, game plan. Laurent Travers is a straightforward acknowledgement: "At times, we were more than inconsistent. We were mostly caught on the fundamentals, like the scrum. Rugby hasn't changed much, if you're deficient on the fundamentals – even if you last 25 minutes – you end up paying off. If you're not able to launch your game, it's the same." Forwards submerged, rear at a standstill.
"It's been a mixed season, it's nothing new"
An insipid performance in the image of the season of Racing 92. Totally fickle. A team capable of nice blows of brilliance as masterful misfires, which had forced him to fight hard to win his ticket to the final phase. This is why Laurent Travers praises the consistency in Toulouse's performances. "This match reflects the season of both teams. Toulouse responded from the first to the 80th minute and we were just able at times to delude ourselves on good actions, as we were, over the season, able to play a good game and be absent the next game..."
In the end, another season without a title for the powerful club of Hauts-de-Seine who - being present every year in the final phase of the championship since its return to the elite in 2009-2010 - has won only one Brennus in 2016. It was in Catalonia, in Barcelona, but it must be believed that the air of the Basque Country does not succeed decidedly to the Sky and White who had lost in the final of the Champions Cup in 2018 in Bilbao against Leinster. At the time of the assessment, Gaël Fickou does not lulle himself with joyful illusions: "It has been a mixed season, it's not new. We tried everything but I think the team couldn't do better. We were at the max..."
It is in pain that a page in the history of the Altosequan club turned this Friday. Laurent Travers, who arrived at the club in 2013 (with Laurent Labit) crowned with the league title with Castres, will leave his position as manager on a stinging setback. "I feel a lot of emotions," said Juan Imhoff, who has been at the club since 2011. I haven't had many coaches in my career, Laurent was my coach at Racing. When you share so much time together, it's not just sportsman, there is also human, you get very attached. Professionalism is still cruel sometimes: you go from everything to nothing. Fortunately, he will stay at the club with us, the players.
»"We will get up again and if we want to go to a final, we will have to go up a notch"
The Puma would also like to salute several of his teammates who will be leaving Racing. "I would have liked us to end up differently for some players. I think of Louis Dupichot, he is someone who loves this club and who has given everything for this club. There is also Teddy Iribaren (who signed for La Rochelle) and Finn Russell (to Bath) who have also given a lot for Racing. We'll see you again. But it's still a big page of Racing that is turning..."
Next year, the club of 92 will be coached, for the first time, by a foreign technician, the Englishman Stuart Lancaster, former coach of England who had bounced back successfully at Leinster. Laurent Travers will remain at Racing but as chairman of the club's board. Did he feel a pinch for his last game on the bench in the Île-de-France region? "Honestly, I thought about it at the end of the game but - and maybe I'll shock you - there are people who don't have the opportunity to be able to do anything else. I am fortunate and honoured to have been offered another position. And I assume that what awaits me is perhaps even more beautiful. So I'm going to be positive."
" READ ALSO Jacky Lorenzetti and Laurent Travers: "Racing could have a second home in Colombes"
He added: "I will do everything to be the height and I will do everything to bring this team as high as possible. Know one thing, it is that we are very proud of these colors and this jersey. I'm glad to be able to continue. After that, we do not know what tomorrow will bring. Why would I be sad? I decided so. Some do not have a position, so we will stay with our feet on the ground. It's a great adventure." But the construction site is huge, always in the open. "Rugby is about tackle, getting up. We will get up again and, if we want to go to a final, we will have to go up a notch, insists Juan Imhoff. I've lost more than gained in my career. But, to win titles, you have to go through it." The problem is that the seasons follow each other and that Racing passes each time "there".
