“I could have been the man of defeat”: the incredible destiny of Romain Ntamack

This is certainly the strongest image of this final. Romain Ntamack, in tears in the arms of his father Emile, a few seconds after the final whistle of a match that will forever be remembered. He could finally exteriorize – he who is said to be cold-blooded as ice – the emotional storm he had just experienced for eighty minutes. He was expected at the turn for his first Top 14 final as a starter and who came so close to a capital flop.

Maestro without solution of a Toulouse stadium far from his usual brilliance, the Blues opener experienced a black hole in the second half, after having nevertheless cleverly saved a 50-22 (touch found from his camp in the opposing 22 meters, allowing to recover the throw) which promised to be superb from Brice Dulin (55th).

The loneliness before the spark

While Antoine Hastoy had just restored the advantage to La Rochelle (23-22), Ntamack made a blunder in cover with a clearing kick, with an unbalanced forward which restored possession to the Maritimes and added a few more doubts still to his own (69th). Then a new mistake, much grosser still, darkened the picture. While his teammates had made efforts to recover a penalty in the La Rochelle camp, he could not find the key, kicking directly in a dead ball (74th). A major blunder which, 99 times out of 100 at this time of the match, in a Top 14 final and against a team as solid in defense as La Rochelle, would have sounded the death knell for Toulouse hopes.

Except that Romain Ntamack is definitely not a player like the others and proved it again on Saturday. On a harmless game launch, he took advantage of a kamikaze surge from UJ Seulteni to take the interval, break a tackle from Dillyn Leyds and rush to flatten the miraculous winning try for Stade Toulouse.

“Man of the match? I could also have been the man of defeat with this missing touchdropped still hot, with tears in his eyes, the Haute-Garonne opener at the microphone of Canal +. I’m lucky to have fantastic teammates who told me there were still five minutes left and that they weren’t going to let go like that.”

Tears, the back Thomas Ramos also had some when talking, still at the microphone of the broadcaster, the incredible fate of his young teammate in this final: “I’m happy for Romain because it was his first final as a starter. You feel like he’s missing everything and you can see the guy’s reaction behind it…”

A champion’s reaction, which he also owes in part to the confidence of his manager Ugo Mola: “He is almost K.-O and I hesitate to take him out. This kid has a character… he may be able to allow us to be world champions!”.

A reflection that may also have been shared with him by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with him in the Toulouse locker room after the meeting. If we wish him wholeheartedly, let’s bet that coming out of such an ordeal with his head held high can only be the mark of the very great and will further strengthen him both safe and off the pitch. Certainly the best news for the XV of France and its coach Fabien Galthié less than three months before the World Cup.