When the UBB ended up scattered on the ground, finished off by the last crazy recovery from Toulouse, that of the try too many, they had been back on the substitutes’ bench for a long time, just as powerless as their partners. This last quarter of an hour of hell, six tries conceded, like an oval tsunami that mercilessly engulfed their last illusions, Matthieu Jalibert and Ben Tameifuna followed it already convinced of defeat. When Bordeaux had brought them back in to give themselves a chance to shake up Toulouse. The fly-half had not played for three weeks, a damaged thigh had even made him think he would not play again this season. The right pillar had had a bad shoulder for two weeks and it was hard to imagine him pushing in the scrum with this dislocated joint.
Yannick Bru’s Girondin staff still tried to start them as they go all-in on the last deal of such a long season. They were the potential superheroes of a club chasing its first Brennus and “Big Ben” had also entered the pitch with a huge Tongan flag tied around his bull’s neck as a cape, while Jalibert had a black strap around his left knee as his outfit.
And it was when the duo of quick healers connected that the first clues emerged. A slow Bordeaux play launch on the 40m line, the fly-half looking for his right-hander to allow him to impose the power of his 144kg on the defensive line, but even before the impact, Tameifuna exploded the ball forward (17th). Both had their share of approximations with two balls dropped from an offensive foot game poorly assured by the fly-half (5th, 33rd). Both saw their bodies bruised by the fight, too. If Jalibert did not display enormous confidence in his thigh, it was his shoulder that suffered, electrified on a tackle on Chocabares, just before half-time. Tameifuna made a first passage on the ground, his breath taken away by a late tackle from Mauvaka (27th).
“We can’t even be disappointed”
Matthieu Jalibert, UBB opener
And from the start of the second period, his right shoulder, overbandaged, made him grimace, prompting the staff to replace him quite early (48th). The Tongan left the pitch with his mind more bruised than his body.
Even his desperate rescue, with Lucu, to prevent Mauvaka from flattening (40th + 1), or his good performance in the scrum, could not console him. Jalibert, himself, did not stay much longer on the Vélodrome pitch, replaced in the 55th, for an exit under a few superfluous whistles coming from the red and black stands. It was just before the cataclysm.
“It’s a nightmare,” he could only say at the Canal+ microphone just after the final whistle. We knew it would be difficult, that it was an incredible team facing us. But I didn’t think there was that much of a gap. We can’t even be disappointed because we’ve been caught up in all areas of the game. We just have to get back to work. » He who saw his season cut short by injuries since the Six Nations Tournament did not want to dwell on his own fate.
“For me the season was almost over,” he continued. I found out on Monday that I potentially had a chance to play, but I think the whole staff was aware that I couldn’t play 100%. I almost couldn’t accelerate. But I don’t want to complain. » Because the total martyrdom of the UBB could only be due to his own performance or that of Tameifuna.
