“I stopped watching after thirty minutes”: MHR travels to Stade Toulousain, six days after the slap inflicted on Leicester

MHR travels to Toulouse this Saturday, January 25 (2 p.m., Canal +), a match counting for the 15th day of Top 14. Montpellier has not won the red and black ogre since February 2021.

80-12. Even six days later, Leicester is still having nightmares. The thrashing inflicted by Toulouse last Sunday in the Champions Cup is not going down well across the Channel, reflecting a little more the fall of English rugby and the ultra-domination of the red and black club on the continent.

This demonstration, lesson, spanking, slap – take your pick – has given the Montpellier team a few cold sweats, the next target of the Haut-Garonne steamroller. “Ah, that's scary, isn't it”, smiles Anthony Bouthier, the MHR fullback. “I stopped watching after thirty minutes, there was no more interest. I find it mind-blowing to score 80 points against a team like Leicester. They were walking around the field”, adds third row Lenni Nouchi.

Read also: “Since the cadets, Toulouse wins everything”: Lenni Nouchi confides before the Toulouse-MHR match

Joan Caudullo's staff must have looked at each other with a strange look during the video analysis on Monday. “What we thought of the match ? That we were going the following week”, laughs Benoît Paillaugue, in charge of the Montpellier attack.

In this XXL performance of the Stade, each of whose twelve tries is making the rounds on social networks, there is also a form of reminder to order. “We know them by heart. Lately, we have heardwas that Bordeaux wasperhaps the only team that can look them in the eye. It stung them”, assures “La Paille”. The message got through.

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“You always hate the best, that's very French”

Toulouse is currently rolling around Europe. Between the pleiad of internationals, the stars embodied by the maestro Antoine Dupont, the style of play, the results… Those who have won 23 Brennus Shields and 6 European Cups are now at the top. An ultra-domination that tends to bother the midfield, almost provoking a pinch of jealousy. Moreover, before a team faces the Red and Black, the locker room leaders like to bet on the fiber of pride, the desire to show the “great Toulouse” that they are not underlings.”You always hate the best, that's very French. You want to be in their place. Toulouse is the best team in the world”, assures Paillaugue. “In all categories they are above”, adds Nouchi.

One element could have reassured the Montpellier residents. Deprived of a dozen internationals, the Stade could be less competitive. But no. Whether it's the A, B or C team, everyone is struggling. “I've never played against their premium team. And yet, I've never won”, slips the Hérault third row.

But then, what is the recipe ? The four teams that found it this year (Bayonne, Castres, La Rochelle, Bordeaux-Bègles) will not reveal it. Montpellier has lost it since February 2021, the date of their last victory. Benoît Paillaugue was there. “On equal terms, few teams can beat Toulouse. To win, we have to be on our best day and they have a bad day”, confides Paillaugue. Winning at Ernest-Wallon is not a whim this Saturday, as this block of ten matches will have been successful (seven victories). Resisting and remaining dignified will already be quite a lot, just to go on vacation on Sunday with total peace of mind.

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