Author of a gross error in the 74th minute, the Toulouse opener pulled himself together to deliver his own, after a crazy race of 50 meters, Saturday evening in Saint-Denis.
What can a destiny hold? Four minutes before offering Stade Toulouse a 22nd Shield of Brennus, Saturday June 17 against La Rochelle (29-26), Romain Ntamack grimaced. His foot had indeed trembled, and he had not managed to find a touch, however harmless, in the 22 meters from La Rochelle. La Rochelle led 26-22, in a final that we thought was destined for it, in the 74th minute. His scowling face appeared on the giant screens and the opener seemed so alone in his pain that even the La Rochelle supporters felt, deep down, compassion.
“For me, the final was over” on this game fact, replayed the interested party afterwards on France 2. Comforted by “the other 14 guys on the pitch”who urge him to “do not give up”, Ntamack pulled himself together. Until proving, a few seconds later, that the hero costume suits him better than that of Calimero.
“Romain’s response is just incredible”, complimented his back Thomas Ramos. Let’s rewind the thread. In the 77th minute, Toulouse broke their teeth, as throughout the game, on the fierce defense of La Rochelle. But at the end of a long streak of possession in the opposing camp, the tightrope walker Ntamack released his best number, in the middle of a dumbfounded defense.
“A flash of genius”
Its disarray already seems far away when it crosses the first maritime curtain, taking advantage of a surplus on the exteriors to transplant on its interior. It was still necessary, after 78 minutes of a fierce fight, that his legs respond to his desire to repair the affront and cover the 50 meters separating him from the in-goal without difficulty. Ntamack puts the canes, until collapsing in a promised land which has rarely borne this nickname so well. “A flash of genius, which delivers us when we were in trouble”summarizes, as a connoisseur, his sidekick Antoine Dupont.
Any other outcome would frankly have been unfair to Ntamack, also author of a very fine final. He thus worked to frustrate the La Rochelle attacks on his peak climbs, leading for example to the first Toulouse try (23rd), by Santiago Chocobares. He was also seen pulling off a classy save from within his 22 yards to avoid a 50-22. In an extremely intense part, the maestro dictated his score without false note. We would almost forget that, deprived of the meeting in 2019 and 2021, he was playing his first Top 14 final with Toulouse.