Racing 92, author of seven tries, largely dominated the Stade Français (53-20), Sunday evening, in its Arena in Nanterre. An improved victory that allows him to take 6th place in the standings, closing the 22nd day of the Top 14. With this great success, Laurent Travers’ men are now ahead of Lyon (7th) by two units, while Stade Français stagnates in 11th place in the championship.
A good operation for Ciel et Blanc, led by their one-night captain Gaël Fickou, who are positioning themselves as serious candidates for the finals. The two clubs began Sunday evening the first act of a “trilogy”, a triple derby: they will meet again on Saturday, in the round of 16 first leg of the European Cup, then on April 17, during the return match.
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✅ A victory that is good for the morale of the players of the @racing92 but also good for the ranking since with this bonus the Ile-de-France residents return to the top 6 pic.twitter.com/6pNzkff6Ra— TOP 14 Rugby (@top14rugby) April 3, 2022
The Ile-de-France club is recovering perfectly in its Nanterre Arena after the “fanny” conceded to La Rochelle (19-0) during the previous day. The Ciel et Blancs hit hard after only five minutes, with the try of the prop Cedate Gomes Sa, who concluded a good action led by Max Spring and Maxime Machenaud.
The Parisians, a little chilled, did not take long to respond, and rather nicely by Lester Etien, following a small low kick from Arthur Coville on the closed side. Racing 92’s second try only came in the 36th minute, signed by international Teddy Thomas, who had finally returned from injury. The score was 15-13 at halftime.
If the first period saw the two teams compete, on returning from the locker room the second act was one-sided, with Laurent Travers’ men chaining the tries. With, in the end, a very heavy addition: five tries in less than thirty minutes, all transformed by a Nolann Le Garrec of the great evenings, returned after half-time in place of Maxime Machenaud.