Top 14. Returns for Brive, but Stade Toulousain “cannot afford to rotate”

“We take the risk of training for less time to get a bit of freshness”. This Thursday, May 18, Virgil Lacombeassistant coach of the forwards of the Toulouse Stadiumexplained how his team was trying to regenerate after the enormous burst of energy in the European Cup punctuated by a slap against Leinster (40-17) last weekend.

If the week has been, as it has been for some time now, centered around the recovery, it is clear that the organizations are tested. And the heat that reigns over the Pink City currently does not help matters. “The heat is hard to take, especially the first ones”, admits the hooker Peato Mauvaka.

Lacombe: “We are going to put the most efficient team in Brive at the moment”

“The season is starting to be long for some players. We spend a lot of time recovering, ”supports Lacombe. Who also dropped: We will not run in Brive, because we can’t afford to do it and we’re going to put the most efficient team at the moment”. No luck for those who hoped to cut a little…

Because yes, Toulouse has no possibility of ignoring the league. At the dawn of 25^and day of Top 14it only points to the 6^and place, posting the same number of points as La Rochelle, 7^and, and therefore the first team out of the qualifying wagon for the final stages. “The advantage is that we change competition. We will face a team of Brive with a different rugby. The will of all is to quickly erase the disillusionment of Leinster and switch back to the Top 14″, insists Virgile Lacombe.

Four returns to the forwards, none behind

At the effective level, the Toulouse staff crossed their fingers to obtain a maximum of reinforcements for the end of the Top 14. For this trip to Brive, he will find 4 forwards (Richie Arnold, Charlie Faumuina, Joshua Brennan and Alban Placines), but lost the left pillar Rodrigue Neti, affected in the plantar aponeurosis, and who could see his season be over. This will require shifting to the left flank of the first line David Ainu’u “Left or right, I don’t care. If I am asked to play winger, I say yes. I act for the good of the team, that’s all, “said the American this Thursday, May 18.

Behind, on the other hand, it is total desert. And we will have to continue to pull the rope with some. Present in the group for a while, Arthur Bonneval could be placed on the score sheet. But at Amédée-Domenech, Toulouse will have to do without Baptiste Germain, Dimitri Delibes, Maxime Médard, Tim Nanai-Williams, Santiago Chocobares, Nelson Epée or even Sofiane Guitoune. “We still have a lot of players in the infirmary, and we will have to wait to integrate them into the workforce”, breathes Lacombe. It is with a worn group, but motivated by the idea of ​​defending its title, that Toulouse will play in Brive this Saturday (9 p.m.)…

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