The Stade Français is a fairground all to itself. A ride, rollercoaster style with alternate eyes in the clouds and upside down, bumper cars, a ghost train sometimes, and to finish a fireworks display at the very last moment. This is what the Parisian club has found in any case to attract and retain an audience which we are used to saying that it is, in the capital, much more difficult than elsewhere. Rugby is only one more proposal, in fact, among the whole range of distractions available to him. So, you have to play with the hearts, blow the heat under a mercury flirting with 0°C, give shivers, cold sweats, hold your breath. In short, the Stade Français maintains the suspense by mastering the art of the opposite. Sunday evening, against the young guard of Toulouse once again deprived of its internationals, the merry troop of Gonzalo Quesada snatched victory after the gong thanks to a masterful try concluded by the back Kylan Hamdaoui (23-16). The manager jumped for joy – which rarely happens to him -, the public, who came in large numbers for a return to class eve, too.
And we are beginning to see images reappear that seem to have accompanied this club since the dawn of time. And if the Stade Français, which has had so much trouble getting started this season, was not simply trying to repeat the blow of last season, when it qualified in extremis for the final phase after a dizzying final sprint? Six days from the end, he is eighth, five points from sixth place, and six points from Racing, fifth, which he will visit in his room at Paris La Défense Arena after welcoming the Bordeaux leader on March 26. , in the next game. The Parisians will challenge in the stride back and forth the… Ciel et Blanc in the round of 16 of the European Cup. You might as well write that at this time of the season, everything is permitted, which would have been difficult to envisage in the fall. “It will be like last year, qualification will be decided on the last day, says Kylan Hamdaoui. There will be suspense until the end. That’s what we play for. But before this final sprint, we have ten days of vacation which will do us good. “The opener Joris Segonds, tries, him, to avoid focusing on the qualification. “We don’t talk about it too much between us,” he said. We will see a little later, depending on the results, if it is accessible or not. »
In the locker room, the music rises in pitch and widens the smiles. “Of course it’s possible,” says captain Paul Gabrillagues. The Stade Français has recovered from so many desperate situations. It’s even his trademark. It’s never better than back to the wall. “We knew that at the first false step, it was over for qualification, underlines Gonzalo Quesada. We are a bit like last year. Why not get that place in the top six that would qualify us? This is our initial ambition, we have never hidden it. The way in which the Parisians manage to snatch their successes, the game produced during the first half hour against Toulouse, this unprecedented speed of execution, the intensity put into all the actions, suggest that the suspense is far from being. ended.
