“They are not unbeatable”, UBB wants to believe it against Stade Toulousain


The UBB has passed the obstacle in Clermont. – THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP

  • The Bordeaux-Bègles Union qualified for the semi-finals of the Top 14 by beating ASM Clermont in the jump-off in a boiling Chaban-Delmas stadium (25-16).
  • UBB will now return to Stade Toulousain in Lille next Saturday. An opponent against whom the Bordelais remain on three defeats in three games this season.
  • Despite everything, Christophe Urios and his players want to believe it and intend to find the solution to bring down the European champion in the North.

Sometimes you don’t need a packed stadium (although that’s better) to make a big splash! Ask the players of the Union Bordeaux-Bègles what they thought of the atmosphere set by the 5,000 spectators of the Chaban-Delmas stadium this Saturday evening during the play-off against Clermont: “It was incredible”, admits
Matthieu jalibert then the experienced
Remi Lamerat who has seen others had “chills” when the bus was greeted. “It was huge, a crazy craze,” adds the Bordeaux center. Christophe Urios, the manager of the UBB, “does not remember such an atmosphere throughout a match” of his team.

Indeed, the 5,000 one-night spectators played their part to the end to allow the Union Bordeaux-Bègles to win the first match of the Top 14 finals in its history against ASM (25-16 ). At the end of a very physical meeting, it was necessary that an extra soul come from the stands to push the hooker Clément Maynadier behind the line and the kicks of Matthieu Jalibert between the poles. This support has surely enabled UBB not to sink in the first half. Inhibited, the teammates of the international opener took half an hour to wake up to take control of a badly started game. “We were a little tough, admits Rémi Lamerat, but we did not panic, we stuck to the score. “

The 5,000 supporters of the Chaban-Delmas stadium set a fiery atmosphere. – THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP

“Stronger than last season”?

Finally, the Bordelais ended up “mastering their subject” as Jalibert reminds us, thanks to his pack and his bench as often this season. Moreover, Christophe Urios “has never been afraid of losing” this jump-off and after this first qualification for the semi-finals of the Top 14, he “feels a lot of pride”. The pride of taking his team a second time in the last four in a few weeks after the semi-final of the Champions Cup lost to Toulouse. Much “more consistent” and above all, even “stronger than last season” says the boss of the Bordeaux locker room, the UBB continues to write its history this season.

Now, maybe it’s time for the Girondins to rewrite a chapter of it. This one which always ends with a victory for Stade Toulousain. For the fourth time this season, the Union will find its best enemy and neighbor. For the moment, Antoine Dupont’s teammates are leading three to zero in their face-to-face. So is this semi-final already lost in advance for the UBB? “We know what to expect and in sport, nothing is written in advance,” thunders the philosopher Matthieu Jalibert. Not false. The opening half also clings to the fact that his team tickled the Toulouse a lot in their last two clashes.

“They are not unbeatable, I am sure of it! “

The Bordelais rely in particular on this European semi-final where the Union “had competed in intensity” remembers the French international, author of a capital match against Clermont (20 points). For him, “it will above all be more realistic” next Saturday in Lille against the neighbors. If Rémi Lamerat hopes “that Toulouse will leave a little to the others”, he recognizes that the UBB “is not favorite and will have to achieve the perfect match” to win a first final in Top 14. It will be necessary “to find the key ”for Christophe Urios who for his part tries to desecrate this Toulouse team:“ They are not unbeatable, I am convinced of it! He says.

A message for his players when we know how important the psychological aspect is in this kind of sport and at this level. Out of the question to leave beaten for him. The 2018 French champion with Castres knows music too well and especially the path to Brennus. Maybe in a week, the Union Bordeaux-Bègles will not have 5,000 supporters on fire behind (the gauge is limited this number for the semi-finals) to carry it but it will always have its guide on the edge of the touch.





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