During the Ile-de-France quarter-final against Sale (41-22), we only saw them: Teddy Thomas, author of a high-class try after flirting with the sideline, Finn Russell, lucky on a rebound following a kick to himself, Juan Imhoff, who dived into the in-goal after a crazy run, and Max Spring, at the conclusion of a superb relay between Virimi Vakatawa and Ibrahim Diallo.
In the European Cup this season, Racing 92 have scored six tries from counter-attacks, more than any other team, or 35% of their tries in this 2021/2022 campaign.
“Racing is huge, they are very threatening: Teddy Thomas, Finn Russell, Max Spring … It’s incredible to watch them play”, underlines, admiringly, the New Zealand third row from La Rochelle, Victor Vito.
For South African Maritime winger Raymond Rhule, “if you don’t know how to deal with them, if the ball doesn’t land on the right side, you take 40 points”.
“They are very dangerous”
“Teddy Thomas’ test is crazy, it’s the test of the weekend for me! “, he underlines.
“They are very dangerous in attack, with players capable of starting from nothing to score tries”, abounds the South African third row of the club at Caravelle, Wiaan Liebenberg, who also admits to being a “fan” of his counterpart Wenceslas Lauret .
For Vito, the danger does not only come from the three-quarters of Racing: “They also have a good hinge that manages to manage the rucks well, they have scrapers everywhere…”
And in the scrum, the Racingmen are… 100% successful (22 won, more than any other team in the competition).
Faced with all this, the Maritimes have arguments, in particular those of a very powerful and experienced pack: Pierre Bourgarit (105 kg, 5 sel.), Uini Atonio (145 kg, 42 sel.), Dany Priso (110 kg, 15 caps), Gregory Alldritt (115 kg, 29 caps), Victor Vito (112 kg, 33 caps)…
“Each time we play against Racing, the match is very physical”, believes Vito, who remembers having finished all his confrontations against the Ile-de-France club “dead in terms of cardio”.
“Like a final”
“We watched their rucks a lot because they put a lot of pressure in this sector, we put our plan in place so that our balls are clean on Sunday,” explains Liebenberg. On this side, the Maritimes have nothing to be ashamed of: they are over 97% of rucks won, the highest ratio in the competition.
To the Rochelais therefore to “take this match as a final” and to “stay focused” throughout the match: “if we manage to hold them well, we can set up our game”, advances Rhule.
Because it would be a “failure if we did not reach this final: we want to win, it is not an empty word”, asserts Vito, who will retire in a few weeks.
This semi-final could indeed be for several Rochelais their last match in the European Cup, given the number of departures at the end of the season.
However, within the team, “there is a lot of respect between us, so we want to do everything for those who leave and they want to do everything for the club”, confides Liebenberg, another future retiree.
Before adding: “we want to finish the season well, that something special happens because our group is very special”.