The reactions after Toulon vs Toulouse
Here are the first reactions of the Toulon and Toulouse staff and players right after the game played on Day 23 of the Top 14 and won by Toulon 33-23, Sunday, April 9th, at the Stade Orange-Vélodrome.
Richard Cockerill, RCT manager: “We’ve earned a clear victory and the players were the deciding factor. The players are good guys : they’re always working, but they’ve lacked confidence over the last few weeks. It’s far from being over, but it’s a good thing done.”
Mourad Boudjellal, RCT chairman: “I think the players have answered the call. It’s a tough season and we’re struggling, because the players often pick up injuries. Toulouse tried to have the edge in the scrum and in the rucks, but we responded. And, above all, one All Black was rejuvenated tonight.”
Charles Ollivon, RCT flanker: “We know what remains to be done and we now have to keep on winning. We know there’s a great opportunity, if we stick to the basics of our game plan. There are reasons to be satisfied tonight and we long for a new lease of life. We were facing a tough challenge and had to react.”
Ugo Mola, Toulouse manager: “At the moment, it’s difficult to pick out a strong point in our performances, but one of them is our capacity to bounce back during the games. However, our adversaries scored tries almost too easily. One of them, the penalty try, seemed quite severe to me, all the more so as defenders were still present then. But the referee can’t be blamed for this, as he applies the rules. It was a hard blow for us tonight, it’s quite a bitter season. We’ll try to end it on a positive note, as some of our boys deserve this. But, Christ! It definitely is a long season.”
Sources: after-game press conference and mixed zone interviews.