RCT's troubled history with Top 14 play-offs

Two eliminations—a current run—at Mayol for two wins: the Top 14 play-offs haven't always been kind to Toulon. They want to use these experiences, especially the painful one they experienced last year, to move up a level. With two things in mind: stick to the game plan and don't be a spectator.

2024: RCT - La Rochelle (29-34)

"We didn't play that match," Pierre Mignoni reminded us again this Thursday. Caught up in the stakes, the context, or what the manager calls "the fear of winning , " Toulon "missed" their meeting, as Gabin Villière confided at the time. They suffered through the event, before reducing the score in the final minutes. Too late.

Including a try that everyone has forgotten from Singleton. "The broken dream" , headlined Var-matin . The clinical Rochelais did not repeat the feat and stopped in the semi-final, beaten by Toulouse.

2018, RCT - Lyon: 19-19 (AP)

To this day, it remains one of the greatest traumatic experiences experienced at Mayol, with a scenario as rare as it was cruel. Despite a draw at the end of extra time, the RCT was eliminated by the number of tries scored: one (Ashton) against two for the men of a certain Pierre Mignoni. Ma'a Nonu's teammates paid for their lack of efficiency and impact.

"We were unable to put our game together against a team that was better structured than us," captain Mathieu Bastareaud debriefed at the time.

This exit (which wasn't even a defeat) sealed the Fabien Galthié era. Toulon was about to experience a six-year drought in the Top 14. As for Lou, they would fall in the semi-final against Montpellier.

2017, RCT - Castres: 26-22

Facing the CO of an already present Dumora and the nuggets Jelonch and Dupont, Toulon bares its teeth to qualify. "A success snatched with the teeth" , was the headline in Var-matin , at the end of a match full of intensity.

Who tips over to a try from Halfpenny, while his team is playing with a numerical inferiority.

The defense then repelled all of the Tarn attacks. "We were never afraid, even with 13 against 15. We knew what we wanted to do, keep the ball, and we did it," noted captain Duane Vermeulen. RCT then eliminated La Rochelle before losing in the final against Clermont.

2012, RCT - Racing-Metro: 17-13

Once again, Toulon had to fight back in a stifling match to secure their place in the semi-finals. Trailing 3-13 at half-time, they overturned Racing, thanks to a try from Steffon Armitage and a boot from Giteau, who took over from a sluggish Wilkinson.

"Luck was on our side," noted Joe van Niekerk.

"At halftime, we said to ourselves that great teams are built on difficulties," Bernard Laporte prophesied. His RCT would end that season in the final, beaten by Toulouse.