It was a deafening din that surrounded the players from the first minute until the celebrations after the final whistle. The Allianz Riviera hosted the first Top 14 semi-final in its history on Friday June 17, between Castres and Toulouse. And the bays of the Nice enclosure will no doubt remember this warm evening for a long time.
In an atmosphere of great evenings, the 35,000 spectators pushed with songs, drums and horns, to accompany the very close fight disputed on the lawn. Less numerous but more noisy, Castres supporters guided their players to victory, and a first final since 2018.
With its tifo and its few blue smoke bombs at the entrance of the players, the Castres bend, in particular filled with the twelve buses chartered by the club for the occasion, had announced the color of entry. But he was quickly picked off by the first Toulouse try from the start of the match. An achievement celebrated by an unleashed stadium almost totally committed to the cause of the defending champions, and mostly adorned in the colors of Hauts-Garonne, in harmony with the red seats of the Allianz Riviera.
However, the Castres “kop” has never stopped growing. Faced with the neighboring ogre, the supporters wanted to carry high the values of their rugby “deep territory”. From songs in tribute to Rory Kockott, who is retiring at the end of the season, to those launched to fill the silence of the cool break, to celebrations with the players on their liberating first try (“Here, here, it’s Pierre-Fabre”), the people of Tarn have always found a way to make themselves heard.
The Castres supporters gave voice throughout the meeting to push their players towards a huge victory #TOP14 pic.twitter.com/RuV4rV0QYa
— Maÿlice Lavorel (@MayliceL) June 17, 2022
And this until the rest of the stadium is extinguished. In less than ten minutes, from Benjamin Urdapilleta’s fourth penalty to Julien Dumora’s try, the balance was completely reversed. And the Castres bend tipped into madness. “The last ten minutes were so intense, it was crazy to experience that in the middle of all the supporters.”rejoiced Elsa, a young Castrese who came with her friends for the occasion. “It was an exceptional atmosphere, I had never experienced that”she admitted, her voice already broken.
The players were not mistaken there, and they immediately offered a good communion with theirs after the final whistle. A lap of honor started, of course, near the bend which gave voice throughout the match, and quickly turned into a walkabout in a myriad of blue flags. Some, like Benjamin Urdapilleta, took a liking to it, as they returned to greet the hundreds of fans who had still not stopped singing, twenty minutes after the final whistle, while the rest of the stadium s was gradually emptied.
/2022/06/17/php8UzPTT.jpg)
“We have an audience that was once again extraordinary”recognized Benjamin Urdapilleta just after the meeting. “They give everything. Sometimes we can’t get along and communicate with each other. But I prefer that to an empty atmosphere.” “They pushed us again tonight, savored Julien Dumora, we are very happy to be able to bring them up again in Paris.” The Castres now have an appointment in a week at the Stade de France, to hope to continue the party.