Racing finally wants to enter the big leagues

A little over ten years ago, Henry Chavancy was in the second division with Racing 92. “It would be nice for me to win the ProD2 trophy and the European Cup with the same club”, joked the center and one of the three vice-captains of the team on the eve of challenging Exeter in the final of the European Cup, Saturday, October 17 (5:45 p.m.). In the coldness of Bristol’s Ashton Gate, the Racingmen will have to show that they have learned from their two previous failures in the final to get rid of the English, new to this stage of the competition, but slightly favorites to lift the cup.

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Since their rise in the elite in 2009, three years after the start of investment in the club by businessman Jacky Lorenzetti, the Ile-de-France residents are one of the most regular teams at a high level. “We have always qualified for the finals of the Top 14, and therefore for the European Cup”, recalls Patrick Serrière, general manager of the club. At the same time, the club’s identity has been renewed, symbolized in 2015 by the abandonment of the “Metro”, in the name, the modernized infrastructure with a brand new enclosure with 32,000 indoor spaces in Nanterre and a sports center. training at the Pointe au Plessis-Robinsson.

Flashy names have arrived, from the phenomenon Sébastien Chabal (2009-2012) to the Australian Kurtley Beale in 2020, through the New Zealand legend Dan Carter (2015-2018). Without forgetting the excellent training center of the club, from where the Virimi Vakatawa center, the main asset of his team, came from.

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Yes but here it is… if it is constantly well placed, Racing struggles to take the last step. On the national scene, the club has regained its shine by lifting Brennus’ shield in 2016, for his only final. But the title is still missing in Europe to be able to look in the eyes of other French mastodons, such as Toulouse – with four European victories – or Toulon and its treble between 2013 and 2015, and achieve what neither Clermont nor the rival of the French Stadium managed to accomplish.

Final without “merguez” or “bandas”

“The club is chasing this first star. We say to ourselves that this is our moment, so we also want to make history, to be part of it ”, insisted at a press conference scrum half Teddy Iribaren. To prepare for the final, he and his partners moved away from the capital and his galloping Covid-19 to take refuge for two weeks in Corsica, in Porto-Vecchio.

The epidemic still complicated the rise of Racing: nine players and staff tested positive shortly after the semi-final against the Saracens, on September 26, and were unable to join the rest of the pro group. for a collective training only Thursday, two days before the final. Due to the health situation, the club had to give up bringing to England 13 players from its squad, not listed on the scoresheet. Only Jacky Lorenzetti and Patrick Serrière will be able to attend as leaders. “The position of the British government is full of zeal”, squeaks the latter.

In front of the journalists, the trainer, Laurent Travers, preferred to take refuge in clichés. “The important thing is to stay focused on the essentials, namely the eighty minutes in the field”, reacted the one who could become the second to win the European Cup on the field and on the bench after the Irishman Leo Cullen. The coach however regretted that “The smell of merguez will not be present, any more than the sound of bandas”, for the first game of his players behind closed doors.

The absence of an audience, however, will be just the least of the trouble against Exeter, a team little known on the continent but which is no less threatening. Toulouse, who broke their teeth there in the semi-finals, can attest to this. The Chiefs are admittedly novices at this stage in the European Cup, but they have been finalists for the past four seasons, where they have fallen three times against the Saracens for a victory against the Wasps. They still occupy the first place in the English Championship, whose competition resumed in August after the forced break from competitions, unlike the Top 14, who declared the 2019-2020 season white.

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Learn from your failures

The names are perhaps less brilliant than those of Sarries, double reigning European champion, but their collective game is working wonders and the English like to impose a sustained rhythm. What to highlight some individualities, like the Simmonds brothers with Sam, top scorer of the competition this season with seven goals, and Joe who is responsible for punishing the smallest faults with the feet thanks to an impressive 34/36 on penalties and transformations. The physiognomy of the match should be much more open for Racing than in the semi-finals. “They are particularly strong in the 22 meters”, recognizes the Henry Chavancy center.

The Chiefs celebrate their qualification against Toulouse in the semi-final.

To win, Racing will have to use the lessons learned dearly from these two previous attempts, against Saracens (21-9) in 2016 and Leinster (15-12) in 2018. “The first time, we were strategically beaten. We had been taken by the throat and we had not known how to get out. The second time, it was decided on details, in particular mistakes, while we were leading by three points with five minutes to go ”remembers scrum half Maxime Machenaud. Not to mention injuries, such as those of Dan Carter just before Leinster, then his replacement, Pat Lambie, after two minutes of play.

This time, Racing is presented in full. It will take that to finally take full light, at the top of Europe.

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