At a surprise, Stade Toulousain fell at home this Sunday, beaten by Clermont (27-24). This shook up the minds of the Top 14 leader, who seemed to have the match under control.
“It’s more than a wake-up call, we will take the time to analyze it to come back with a different mindset,” said Ugo Mola, manager of Stade Toulousain, beaten at home 27-24 by Clermont on Sunday.
“It’s a tough evening, we wanted it to be a celebration, to secure qualification (for the playoffs), but we restarted the final sprint of this championship,” explained the coach of the Red and Blacks. “There are elements in the first half, we can’t punish them, I think we lose 5 balls within 5 meters of the line…,” he lamented.
Toulouse quickly led 21-0, suggesting a one-sided match, before seeing Clermont come back into the game. “We have an apathetic, catastrophic conquest, with too many lost balls, too many chances where we are unable to punish,” Mola continued.
“At 21-0, we need to stop thinking that the matches are over,” said second row Thibaud Flament. “We need to be more ruthless, we think the match will get easier later on, there is a form of relaxation, a false rhythm sets in,” he estimated.
“At 21-0, we need to stop thinking that the matches are over, it’s up to us to have a level of alertness for 80 minutes, something we didn’t have tonight,” emphasized Thomas Ramos, as Toulouse had already fallen 28-21 after leading 21-0 against Glasgow in the Champions Cup in December.
