You can call it “derby de la Garonne” or “chocolatinico”, the observation remains the same: the match between the Union Bordeaux-Bègles at the Stade Toulousain becomes, over the years, one of the main posters of the Top 14 Sportingly, the two teams are at the top of the championship. UBB, second in the standings (38 points), is the only team able to keep up with the pace set by Stade Toulousain (40 units). The shock at the top between them, Saturday November 4, is one of these unmissable events during the season. Enough to establish a lasting rivalry?
“I would like us to be rivals, but we haven’t existed enough against this team in the recent past”, answers Laurent Marti, president of the Girondin club joined by franceinfo: sport. Beaten twice by Toulouse during the last regular season (23-45 to Ernest-Wallon, 10-21 to Chaban-Delmas), his team also stumbled during two choppy meetings. In the European Cup (9-21) as in the Top 14 (21-24), Stade Toulousain put an end to Bordeaux dreams, for their first semi-finals in these competitions.“Often it comes down to a few things, but they are not unbeatable”, moderate Bordeaux-Béglais manager Christophe Urios on Wednesday, in a press conference.
It’s over, let’s go to the final
Our win against UBB and qualify for the final of the @ top14rugby for the 28th time in history #STUBB pic.twitter.com/HLV97RiqYd
– Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) June 19, 2021
In office since 2019, Urios is precisely at the heart of this antagonism. Of a public nature, his enmity with Ugo Mola, coach of Stade Toulousain, gave rise to many spikes last season. “You have to separate things, recalls Laurent Marti. These spikes are personal, they are not linked to the UBB and the Stade Toulousain. “ These go back to the beginning of the 2000s, when Urios was training Mola in Castres. “These little stories and anecdotes show that something is taking place between Bordeaux and Toulouse. It’s pretty cool!”, smiles Vincent Clerc, Toulouse winger between 2002 and 2016, now a consultant for France Télévisions.
Because the UBB, born in 2006 from the merger of Stade Bordelais and CA Bègles, has neither the stature nor the record of the Toulouse giant and its 21 Brennus. Despite this deficit, the Girondins look the Red and Black in the eye.
“The Bordelais have been considered favorites for the title for three years. There are also real direct rivalries between players for a place in the France team, like Lucu-Dupont or Ntamack-Jalibert. This adds interest to the match ! “
Vincent Clerc, consultant for France Télévisionsfranceinfo
Beyond sport, any opposition between Bordeaux and Toulouse, a little over 200 kilometers apart, is also a matter of regional hegemony. “The South-West is a two-headed region, between two cities forced to pull the plug”, specifies Serge Legrand-Vall, author of the book “Toulouse Bordeaux one in the other”. Historically, Bordeaux has used and abused the dominant position conferred on it by its port. Toulouse paid the price, especially from the 18th century. “ And the writer who lived in both cities to evoke the “folklore” of a “one-sided rivalry”.
“It is only the people of Toulouse who have a problem with Bordeaux! Even they do not know why. But beware, there is no real animosity.”
Serge Legrand-Vall, author of the book “Toulouse Bordeaux one in the other”franceinfo
Sign of a healthy rivalry, Laurent Marti willingly confides “inspired” of the Stade Toulousain to build the Union. A familiar environment for the president, passed by the youth teams of the Haut-Garonnais club. “There is a soul, a real history and a good training in Toulouse, he confides. He is a real model for us! ” If the UBB has the best attack of the championship (34 tries, just ahead … Toulouse), it undoubtedly drew its inspiration from the DNA of the movement game carried by the Rouge et Noir. “They recruit and train young players, like us”, adds the Girondin president.
“The matches against Bordeaux were played in a very cordial atmosphere, remembers Vincent Clerc. It was always well received there: the temperaments were not so explosive. The match was not necessarily marked in the calendar like other derbies. “ In his period as a player, until 2016, he especially knew Bordeaux recently promoted with more modest ambitions.
Clerc was however the holder in May 2015, when the UBB missed the qualification for the dams by a hair to Ernest-Wallon. “It’s incredible! We never won it, but we often lost one or two points., notes President Marti. But it is certain, there were significant facts against Toulouse. ”
It only took five days for the shock ticket office @UBBrugby vs @StadeToulousain full poster.
This major event will attract 33,000 supporters to Chaban on December 4th!
https://t.co/oB8jmzzaaf#iloveubb # top14 #ubbst pic.twitter.com/wIe3eMuNPG
– UBB Rugby (@UBBrugby) November 8, 2021
On Saturday evening, 33,000 people will fill a Chaban-Delmas stadium that has sold out for three weeks. Without a doubt, a certain popular fervor will surround this gala event. Which risks supplanting, for an evening, the political differences between the two metropolises against the backdrop of the LGV (high speed line).
The thorny GPSO (Grand Projet Sud-Ouest) provides for the commissioning of a high-speed rail line along the Garonne, so as to bring the pink city closer to Paris. Jean-Luc Moudenc (LR mayor of Toulouse) is in favor, unlike Pierre Hurmic (EELV councilor of Bordeaux). Which are exchanged regular pikes by interposed press. A Bordelais and a Toulousain who charient carefully avoiding to cross, does that remind you of anything?
“We are talking here about opening up Toulouse, concludes the writer Serge Legrand-Vall. The fact of being subjected to the Bordeaux lock to reach Paris is the fate of Toulouse. “ Getting out of the Bordeaux pressure to compete in the championship final in Saint-Denis, that will inspire Ugo Mola.