At the dawn of the shock which will oppose Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles (this Sunday at 4 p.m.) in the semi-finals of Champions Cup, the manager of the Stade Toulousain spoke without detour. Rather serene, Ugo Mola does not hide his impatience to find the UBB in the final phase.
This semi-final will be played without many executives of your workforce, how much can this impact Sunday’s performance against the UBB?
The injuries have been a little followed a little for fifteen days … somewhat unhappy injuries, obviously often linked to the intensity of the matches, then one or two a little more annoying. In particular that of Peato Mauvaka, which is almost alone in our end of training on Tuesday. Ditto for Thomas Ramos. It is never ideal to have many players of this quality absent in these kinds of moments but we will hope that our well remains inexhaustible and that from the inside will prove to be lots of players. When Peato Mauvaka is injured, and we are sorry for him with regard to the state of form that was his, but that it is Julien Marchand who takes the hand with Guillaume Cramont and Thomas Lacumbre in third, we could be worse on the subject. There is obviously a lot of confidence in our resources but we are obviously lacking in class players, for some international, for other Worlds.
How did you feel your group following these many injuries?
To say that it did not disturb things, it would be … in fact, what I like in this group, and it may seem a little naive on my part, is that we see in the eyes and in the attitude of the players that they are above all sorry and sorry for their teammates before saying to themselves that they will be able to grasp their luck. This is what is quite remarkable with this group and this is what probably allows us to have a slightly different group with a karma that suits him, pleasant, with which he lives well. Pierre Villepreux said to me: “Have fun watching your typical team, you will never play with it”. So there is no typical team (laughs).
How much can the absence of a Thomas Ramos weigh on your strategy?
I think the players do not replace each other. The team will adapt to a new composition, to a different leadership. We all know very well that it is complicated to play without Thomas Ramos. Honestly, if we had the slightest window to have it played, we would have done it. But we will adapt strategically to his absence. Our rugby that may be a little different. For us, it’s a little piece of unknown, so I imagine that for our opponents too. Obviously, with Thomas Ramos, it is often oiled and very well orchestrated. Like you, I can’t wait tomorrow to see how it will happen.
Did the various injuries have an influence on your choice to build a bench with six forwards and two three-quarters?
A little to the extent that the versatility of some sometimes allows certain things. When you take the risk of putting yourself in 6-2, which is a real risk on matches of this caliber, you have to have specialists in certain positions. So that has recomposed our bench a little bit. But we were very often customary because. This year, in champions cup, we were often in 5-3 because during a final against the Leinster, we had injuries early enough, especially among three-quarters. It must be understood that the bench has become something strategic in modern rugby, but at the start, it is one by line to supplement one injury by line. I am a fervent activist to develop the rules and have a little more resources on the bench. We try to campaign so that the regulations are evolving. I think we will eventually arrive, a bit like football, with an audience of replacements and strategically, depending on the needs, a number of changes that could evolve. But today, the 6-2 seemed to us the most appropriate also with regard to the weather conditions which can be quite complicated.
Precisely, do you think the weather can be an advantage for you?
I believe that there is always this debate power of forwards, velocity and typing of three -quarters, etc. I think that the team that wins is the team that will win with all of its forces at the right time and the ability that one or the other will have to adapt to what one and the other will offer. I’m not sure that the Toulousain stadium appreciates playing under waded water.
Bordeaux certainly has things to teach us in certain sectors. I read their president’s article. He can come when he wants to be a salesperson at the Toulouse stadium
How much will you think that the UBB has grown up to try to shake up Toulouse’s supremacy in recent years?
Frankly, we are not going to make a wooden tongue. Bordeaux plays the leading roles, so you can think that at one point or another it will fall on their side. Playing the leading roles allows you to exist and glean titles. The structuring of Bordeaux in recent years is super coherent. There is a constant progression. There is stability in the workforce. There is stability in training. It is a club that makes its way. And the path is obviously admirable. There is no problem on the subject. Afterwards, obviously we try to continue. I know that at the moment, the Toulouse hegemony poses a lot of problems in more than one title but we try to keep it by being efficient, but nothing is guaranteed. There is one of the great coaches of the 90s in this activity, who said: “If you win all the time, it is that the game is far too simple”. I don’t think the game is too simple. As I said, I am a coach of Toulouse, trained in Toulouse and a fan of Toulouse, but it is not completely stupid to say that the UBB is very efficient and that what they do is rather very good. We are inspired, we are not very jealous, perhaps if others. We are not jealous, we are not envious, but on the other hand, we are inspired and we look at what can be done better elsewhere. And I think Bordeaux certainly has things to teach us in certain sectors. I read their president’s article. He can come when he wants to be a salesperson at the Toulouse stadium.
Arbitration in Champions Cup and Top 14 is very different. Can it change things in this match?
Many things yes, by the knowledge of Andrew Brace (the referee of the meeting note), in his apprehension of the competition, in the level of requirement of international referees. There is also the fact that these referees know a little less the statutes of each other who can sometimes tip the scales in our championship. I do not believe that our French referees are less good than foreign referees, but I think that to decontextualize the thing allows you to have very abroad arbitrators, from the rule at the moment. For two teams like Toulouse and Bordeaux who want to provoke things and do things, I believe that arbitration will count, but it’s up to us to adapt very quickly. We are fortunate to have a very high level referee.
In recent years, the Toulouse stadium has never lost in the final in line against a French club …
(It cuts). You know that statistics is the most proven form of lie. We use those that suit us well and we forget those that do not suit us. I think we have a good karma against the French. This is the Toulouse stadium and it has been proving it for years. Our confrontations with Bordeaux are always very tight. Rather, they are harsh matches, matches on which there are acts of play that count a lot. The effect we can have on others, it is obvious and we cannot hide from it. But the strength of this club is to believe in us. This group lives incredibly well, wants to perform and want to score beyond La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Toulon and others. He wants to mark his club and his generation. On your way, you play magnificent teams like that of Bordeaux, tomorrow afternoon, in Bordeaux.
