Castres will quietly watch the barrage between Toulouse and La Rochelle this Saturday evening to find out their opponent in the semi-finals in Nice next Friday. Matthias Rolland, club director, gives an update on the latest news before this meeting.
Were you able to take advantage of this historic first place at the end of the regular season?
“We did not have time to digest it. We have already projected ourselves on the semi-final at all levels: sportingly and at the organizational level for our supporters. We quickly switched. That’s for sure that we are very happy, but I think we will realize at the end of the championship which I hope as late as possible.”
How many supporters will go to Nice?
“We sold the 2,000 places we had available in a few hours. We’re looking for buses, it’s a school day. This is not obvious. We have about ten buses, I think we can make seven or eight more. We mobilize all energies to bring our supporters in the best conditions. For those who will not be able to come, the city is doing something at Place Soult. A giant screen, I think there will be a lot of people. We will make them experience the trip from the inside with videos of the players’ hotel, for example.”
2,000 seats, that’s all you got?
1987 places to be precise. It’s the same for both clubs. It’s weak but probably the size of the Nice stadium. The semi-finals work very well, so the remaining contingent is quite low. Everything we had in the CO is exhausted, there are still a few on the League website.
After 2018, do we dream of a new Brennus in the Tarn?
“We are more than 80 minutes from the Stade de France. It was unexpected for us, almost unexpected to finish first in the regular phase. We will see if it is a successful season at the end.”