Super League – Toulouse is neither Toronto nor Perpignan – Rugby League
Toulouse Olympique will be the fourth non-British team to play in the Super League after the Catalans Dragons, still present, and the mirages PSG and Toronto.
If some voices are raised in England to evoke a skepticism at the arrival of Toulouse Olympique in the Super League, it mainly results from small calculations of apothecary. The health crisis has put all sports clubs in financial difficulty regardless of the size of the entity and English rugby union is no exception. The arrival of Toulouse in the Super League is therefore for these clubs one more trip to France minimum (depending on the bonus matches) and the costs that go with it.
This short-term calculation is obviously damaging because if we can understand that the entities have financial imperatives, the arrival of Toulouse Olympique in the Super League is a boon in the long term for a rugby league which continues to run out of steam in the northern hemisphere. Toulouse is not Perpignan and even less Toronto, decryption in support.
A history of more than 80 years
Founded in 1937, Toulouse Olympique is a historic Toulouse club with a history including six French championship titles but also six French Lord Derby Cup. Add to that a few trophies in England, League 1 and Championship and you have a good track record. The recent creation of the Catalan Dragons is also based on the history of XIII Catalan and Saint-Estève, historic French rugby clubs. On the other hand, Toronto obviously could not boast of a story because the club is to tell the pyramid of the English championships.
An agglomeration of more than a million inhabitants
This is the only point where Toronto was completely out of class with over 7 million inhabitants. But with its million, the Pink City is the fifth French agglomeration (behind Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille) with the resulting economic activity. Without insulting Perpignan, Toulouse is 5 times the city of the Catalan Dragons in terms of population. We can also mention the international airport of Blagnac and a successful economy based in part on the aeronautics and space industry. The Pink City as it is nicknamed throughout the world will have an interesting sounding board in France but also more widely in Europe for the promotion of rugby union.
Several Super League clubs puzzled by the rise of TO XIII, Warrington and Leeds are on the contrary impatient 👇https://t.co/l3FO2lEqrc
– Thirteen Mondial (@XIIIMondial) 12 October 2021
Effective training
Toulouse Olympique has an efficient rugby union training center and the rise in the Super League should make it even more attractive. Mathieu Jussaume and Justin Sangaré are the last players from Toulouse to play with the first team and they should be part of the adventure in the Super League. Due to its geographical position, Toulouse Olympique will have the opportunity to attract young rugby players from the region to its training center, with the key to securing a place in the Super League.
Stade Toulousain and Ernest-Wallon
For several years now, Toulouse Olympique has moved closer to its neighbor, Stade Toulousain, which can be considered simply as the biggest rugby club in the world or in any case one of the biggest. Rugby is a religion in Toulouse and lovers of the XV should find their happiness by following the club of XIII in the most prestigious of competitions. The synergies between the two entities, the strong words of Ugo Mola or even the sharing of Ernest Wallon are all assets that should allow Toulouse Olympique to shine in its city but well beyond.
The idea that should emerge from these lines is that Toulouse Olympique and the Toulouse metropolis have all the assets necessary to succeed in the Super League but also to help the development of competition and rugby league in France. With the Catalan Dragons, there are now two professional clubs to boost media interest in the Super League. For the effects of this rise of the TO XIII on the XIII in France, it will be necessary to be patient, it will not happen overnight but the risks will be in the medium or long term with a growing interest in sport and therefore in another. time increasing licenses and clubs.