They did not have the weapons. The players of Rouen Normandie Rugby (RNR) logically iinclined 3 to 24, this Friday evening, against Carcassonne for the 18th day of the Pro D2 championship. But at the Diochon stadium, the meeting was necessarily very special, just a few days after the death of the emblematic Rouennais opener Jordan Michallet. In the full stands, the supporters wanted to pay tribute to their “general”, the nickname given to Jordan Michallet. The meeting began with a minute of applause. Signs and bouquets of flowers were also left by supporters.
– Manon Lombart-Brunel
“I absolutely wanted to come”
“I hadn’t planned to come at all but finally I changed my plans at the last moment, says Maxime, who came with a few friends to watch the match. I absolutely wanted to come. It’s a different game from the others and it’s really good that everyone is here and the stadium is full.”
“We are shocked by what happened, says Jean-Marc, a great supporter of the RNR who made the trip from Paris. Despite the defeat of their team, many supporters still wanted to stay until the end of the meeting.
“Usually everyone leaves. There, we all stayed until the players returned, describes Nelson, a rugby fan from a very young age. We will always think of Jordan. Today we tried to do the best we could and hopefully he saw that.”
– Manon Lombart-Brunel
“The group is slowly getting up”
On the players’ side, despite the defeat, the desire to do well was also well and truly present.
“Obviously, we wanted to give everything, even more than usual, says the Rouen hooker Jean-Etienne Lesueur, just after the meeting. We did it in the fight, in the intensity we put in, I don’t think anyone escaped, we can hold our heads up high.”
And he also thanks the supporters: “The support of the public is a great pleasure. They were always there even when the match was over and there was nothing more to play for, they didn’t let us go until the end. Once the final whistle, it was very poignant. The group is slowly recovering. There are players who are more affected than others. It is up to the least affected players to come and support those who are very bereaved. But to anyway we have to get up because the Pro D2 and the other teams are not going to wait for us. It’s up to us to get the maintenance. “
And to achieve this, it will take end a seven-game losing streak, perhaps next week against Grenoble, on January 29.