Twelve teams, six trophies handed out and, in the end… a gamble brilliantly won. On 31 May, Auch celebrated the kind of women’s rugby you only ever see by going to the ground. With authenticity and passion, in the image of a region fundamentally bound to the values of a sport that has taken root here like nowhere else in the country. And you know what? It worked! Very well indeed, and certainly beyond expectations, given that the event had to face competition from Top 14 but also from the Élite 1 final, Bordeaux – Toulouse, played 450 km away under the glare of the Canal+ cameras.
Let us be honest, we did not expect the birdsong to be drowned out, at 9.30am and all at once, ahead of the U18 Accession final. We had not really anticipated the furious arrival of 150 Bagnères-de-Bigorre supporters, club colours over their shoulders, drums, horns and green and black flares in their hands, thoroughly determined to roar their girls on. And thanks again to them for giving our little expectations a good kick.
The young Bagnères side lost (to Dijon) but the tone of the day was set, pushing high the dial of a heat that only came back down long after sunset. Thanks to the spectacle on the pitch, which delivered despite the furnace (32° on the thermometer), but also thanks to the number of supporters who came from Toulouse, Grenoble, La Rochelle and even the Paris region to give the event substance while guaranteeing a good-natured atmosphere.
Caroline, Marie-Jo and the others
A reward for the players’ commitment, for the FFR who organised the day and for RC Auch too, who bent over backwards to make the party a good one. We think of Caroline, the club’s events and communications manager, who repeated her runs and her tasks with more intensity and consistency than an international back-rower.
Of the iconic Marie-Jo too, in the kitchen from 7 in the morning, always ready to whip out a plate of chips and holding the fort with her team of super grannies until all hours of the night “because someone has to do the washing-up as well!”. And of the other RCA members, from the players to president Sébastien Joya, behind the refreshment stands or on the touchlines to make sure the party stayed a party and to cover for any unforeseen problems. Which — apart from one or two cases of heatstroke to manage in the absence of a doctor who had pulled out at the last minute — turned out to be very rare indeed.
And what about the rugby in all this? Few false notes there either, witness the masterclass in ball retention from the Toulouse U18 Élite side to beat Stade bordelais (24-17) and, for some of them, to bid farewell in the finest possible way to the last age-grade category. Or the way Toulon handled the pressure to resist the La Rochelle comeback in a stifling finish to the Élite 2 final (14-12). A choice epilogue to close this enchanted rugby interlude in the heart of the Gers.
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